Fly Me Away
by ariaswan
Summary: AU- Elena is the daughter of the highest ranking, richest Soldier on the Planet- Reno is the former street child, now Turk, assigned to protect her. How will they cope, forced together against their will, alone on a tiny airship? RenoXElena
1. Reno

Chapter One

Reno

I wasn't too worried about getting called into Tseng's office. I've been in there a fair few times in the three years I've been a Turk, and never 'cause I've been in _huge _trouble. Just because I've been in _minor _trouble. I figured that was what it would be- you know, some prank I'd pulled, or some obvious spelling mistake in a report. The kinda stuff that really pisses Tseng off, but that he can't actually fire me for. Getting yelled at is a bore, but I'm used to it, all in all. So I wasn't bothered at all when I knocked at the door.

What did surprise me was that Tseng smiled at me a bit when I came in. He never does that if he's about to chew me out. So I blinked, a bit confused.

'Hi, Tseng.'

'Hello Reno. Come and have a seat.'

I did as he said, eyeing him a bit warily. I like Tseng- really, I do. He's way cool, as far as bosses go, especially compared to the usual stiffs that are in charge at Shinra. And even when he's forced to be harsh to us, he never holds it against you. At the end of the working day, he's Tseng our friend, not Tseng our boss. It's nice, a nice way to be.

But I couldn't imagine why he was making me come in here, if not to yell at me. When we get mission briefings, we go through them with Rufus, who's pretty much the second in command. I'm _sure _the fact his surname is Shinra is _nothing _to do with that. But whatever. 

He's the one who hands out the missions, mainly because he's too inept to do field work, so he has to do _something_. So why did Tseng want to see me?

'Reno, I was visited earlier today by Jens Silva,' he told me, sounding a bit grave. I raised an eyebrow.

'Jens Silva? The Soldier leader?' I whistled. 'What did he want?'

'He asked for... a favor of sorts.' Tseng tented his fingers. 'He wanted some help from us.'

I frowned. What could one of the most powerful men in the world want from the Turks? I mean... we rank highly within Shinra, for sure. But only the President really is higher than Jens Silva. What could we do for him?

'It's not the kind of thing we'd usually do,' said Tseng, sensing my confusion. 'Not really. He has a daughter... Elena.'

I watched Tseng, waiting, wandering what this guy's kid had to do with anything.

'He wants us to protect her,' Tseng told me. 'To keep an eye on her twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.'

I stared at him. 'What the fuck? He wants us to babysit his little brat all the _time_?' I rolled my eyes. 'God, Soldier have such high ideas of themselves. What, he can't get a nanny like a normal person?'

Tseng looked amused. 'She's nineteen years old. It's hardly babysitting. And she's received some rather... graphic threats from anti-Shinra groups since her identity was made public by Shinra Society Magazine.'

'Hey...' I had a sudden brainwave. 'So that's why I had to shoot the editor?'

Tseng nodded. 'Mm. Silva did everything possible to ensure she remained anonymous. His position made it necessary, for obvious reasons. But now... well. She's in a great deal of danger.'

'Wouldn't they be better off, like, dyeing her hair and sending her to live in Icicle or something? I mean, if we're looking after her, then she'll be in Midgar, won't she?'

Tseng cleared his throat, uncomfortably. 'Um, not necessarily.'

I narrowed my eyes. 'How do you mean "not necessarily?"'

'You know Cid Highwind, don't you?'

I snorted. 'What, that nutty old pilot who thinks he can build a spaceship? What's he got to do with anything?'

Tseng wouldn't meet my eyes, which I knew was a bad sign. Usually, he's very upfront and honest about crappy missions and stuff like that. I could tell I was _not _gonna like what he was about to say.

'He commissioned an airship, some years ago, one that would be suitable for long distance travel. And when I say long distance, I _mean _long distance. This thing can travel twice around the _world _without stopping.'

That interested me. I'm pretty into stuff like that- flying, I mean. I'm a pretty good helicopter pilot myself, without meaning to sound like I'm bragging. When I'm behind the controls, it's one of the few times I just plain concentrate, without my mind running off in 7000 directions.

Tseng went on. 'The only problem with it is, the engine and control rooms take up so much room, the craft doesn't have room for the amount of seats it would need to make enough 

profit to pay for the fuel. And so it's never been properly used.' He coughed. 'Erm, until now.'

'Tseng.' I stared at him. 'Tell me what is going on, please.' I had a horrible feeling I knew, though.

He nodded. 'Right. We've spoken to Highwind- there are four rooms on board that aren't in use for anything.' He stopped meeting my eye again. 'So we've made them into a kitchen, a sitting area, and two bedrooms.'

'You're kidding me,' I said, flatly.

Tseng sighed. 'I'm sorry, Reno. It's the only way to keep her safe. And we'll be down here, doing everything we can to eradicate the threat... You may not even have to be up there too long.'

'Tse-eng!' I was aware that I was whining like a little kid, but _really_. Living on an airship for god only knows how long, looking after some society brat... stuck with Cid freakin' Highwind. But I knew there was no way I could say no, however much I wanted to. I'm a Turk, and a loyal one too. Even if sometimes I would rather shoot myself than do certain missions. Like this one, for example.

'You'll be rewarded, of course,' Tseng assured me. 'I know it's not ideal, Reno. And I _am _sorry.'

'Whatever,' I grumbled, though I was somewhat mollified. 'So, when does this joyful experience begin?'

Tseng coughed again. I rolled my eyes. 'Tseng... Tell me!'

'Um, today,' he admitted, apologetically. 'She's on her way now.'

I sighed. 'What's her name again? Helen?'

'Elena,' he corrected me. His face grew serious. 'Look, Reno... she's nineteen years old, but she's led a sheltered life. Be... be careful, okay?'

I rolled my eyes. 'I'm not gonna flirt with her. I've seen pictures of her mom...' I shuddered. 'Ugh. There's no worries there.'

Tseng glared at me, but I could tell he was amused. 'Well, just bear it in mind, okay?'

'If you're that worried I'm gonna freak her out, why are you making _me _do this?' I asked him. 'Why not one of the others?'

'Everyone else is older than her,' he shrugged. 'There's barely two years between you, but there's nearly ten between her and Rude. I think she'd be uncomfortable with someone that much older.'

'What, and she _will _be comfortable with me? Cause I'll remind her of the hired help at her mansion, ya mean?'

Tseng rolled his eyes. 'No, because you're the same age,' he enunciated. _Idiot_, he didn't bother to add.

Truth was, it did make me feel a bit weird. I mean, this chick was rich and cultured and everything. However close we were in age... well. We weren't going to have anything in common. She'd probably feel better off with Rude, because he's way classier than me. But I didn't say this to Tseng. I just made a face at him.

'Do I get to pack my own stuff to take?' I asked him.

He nodded. 'You have an hour to get ready.'

'Jeez. That's really generous of you,' I said, sarcastically.

Tseng sighed. 'Be back here in an hour exactly, okay?'

I nodded. 'Yeah, yeah. I will be.'

And so an hour later, I found myself standing in the largest, most impressive looking airship I had ever seen. It was vast- words are not enough to do it justice. I was gaping around at everything, missing at least half of the lecture Tseng was giving me.

I snapped out of it when he punched me, quite hard. 'Fuck, Tseng! That hurt!'

'You're not listening , are you?' he said, shaking his head. I attempted to look sorry.

'I am, it's cool. I won't try and screw her, I won't be mean to her, bla bla bla.'

Tseng looked as though he was about to say something when a heavily armored vehicle arrived.

'Silva?' I guessed.

Tseng nodded. We watched as he climbed from the vehicle, all expensive silk suit and huge freaking gun. He leaned slightly into the car, and when he emerged was swiftly followed by... a really, really pretty girl.

I stared in shock as a girl who bore absolutely no resemblance to either of her parents climbed out of the car. She was petite and delicate, with shiny honey blonde hair and small, perfectly placed features. She also looked snooty as hell.

I saw a concerned look pass over Tseng's face as he took in the fact that she was a very pretty young woman, but Silva and his daughter, along with about a gazillion Soldier, were swiftly climbing the craft's steps.

'Tseng.' Silva reached out and shook his hand. 'Thank you for arranging this so quickly.'

'It's no problem,' said Tseng. 'General Silva, this is Reno. He'll be with Elena on the craft.'

Silva looked me up and down, then turned back to Tseng, looking rather distasteful. 'Him?'

'He's an excellent agent,' Tseng assured him. 'I promise you, your daughter will be well protected.'

Silva nodded, briskly. 'See that she is.'

He turned to Elena then, and we stepped back a bit, giving them space tactfully. But all he did was nod at her, then say 'Take care, Elena.'

Gawd, he was paying millions of gil to protect her, and he wasn't even gonna give her a hug. I raised an eyebrow at Tseng, who just shrugged.

Elena stared icily at her father, and said nothing in reply. Silva sighed, then looked at Tseng. 'She's ready,' he told him. And then he was gone.

Um, what the fuck? From that little exchange, you'd think he couldn't care less about her, when he was clearly putting up mega bucks for this little jaunt. I raised an eyebrow.

'Weird,' I muttered. Tseng gave me a sharp look, then walked over to Elena, smiling a bit nervously.

'Miss Silva, this is Reno.'

She looked at me, then shrugged. 'Fine,' she said, coolly.

Tseng coughed. 'Well, you should go on board. The sooner you leave, the better.'

Elena turned on her heel and went inside. I glared daggers at Tseng.

'You want me to put up with Little Miss Mood Swing?' I said, a bit incredulously.

'I'm sure it'll be fine,' said Tseng, entirely unconvincingly. 'Look, we'll be in regular contact. And we'll try and get things sorted as quickly as possible.'

'You'd better,' I muttered, murderously. 'And I better get a _huge _bonus.'

Tseng smiled. 'That at least I can promise you.'

'Humph. Well, I should hope so too.' I sighed. 'I better go and make small talk with Her Majesty.'

'I'll see you soon, Reno,' said Tseng. 'Don't worry. I'm sure it won't be _too _bad.'

I just snorted at that. Yeah, right. Not _too _bad. Well, we'd see, wouldn't we?

A/N- More RenoXElena lol. I'm not obsessed, truly. Anyway, my friend thought I should do a fic that concentrated completely on just two character, and that's what this one will be, though there will be tiny bits of Cid scattered in for good measure, as well as mentions of the other Turks and of AVALANCHE as well. But mainly, it's Reno and Elena and, hopefully, a whole lotta sexual tension. Yay! Please review XD


	2. Elena

Chapter Two

Elena

All the way to the airbase, I stared out of the tinted windows, watching Midgar pass darkly by. The vehicle fitted my mood, actually: black and miserable. When my father tried to talk to me, I just glowered at him, through my eyelashes.

'How can you do this to me?' I asked him for the one hundred millionth time.

He sighed heavily, then put on his 'fair' voice. 'I had no choice, Elena. You're my daughter and you're in danger. What else could I do?'

I didn't reply, though I knew exactly what I _wanted _to say. If I had any courage, I'd tell him the truth- that I hate Shinra as much as the people who want to see me dead. So many times, the words have been on the tip of my tongue, but I've never dared say them. One of these days...

We were silent from then on. I did my best to not even look at my father, just gazed at the floor, planning what I would say, if I ever got brave enough to tell my father what I thought of him. Oh, the names I was thinking of...

I was jerked from my thoughts when the vehicle stopped. One of the guards opened my father's door, and he stepped out. I stayed seated for as long as I could, but he leaned back in.

'Elena,' he said, sharply.

Pursing my lips, I followed him, though I stood back a bit as he headed to the deck of the ship, towards two men. I couldn't see them all that well- they were Turks, obviously, as they 

were dressed in those black suits, but the only other thing I could see was that one had dark hair, and the other red. I wondered vaguely which one was my prison guard as I walked slowly towards them, surrounded by Soldier.

Up close, I saw that both men were tall and dressed in expensive suits, but that's where any similarities ended. The dark haired man, obviously of Wutain descent, was perfectly put together and gave off an aura of total professionalism. The red haired guy was skinny and a total mess- his shirt was untucked and wrinkled, and he didn't wear a tie. His hair, though it was rather a lovely color, looked as though he'd been electrocuted. I knew in an instant that it wasn't the classy Wutain man who would be my companion, but Mr Dragged Through a Hedge. Great.

Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed a second later, when my father approached the first man- Tseng. I think he was a little alarmed by the other guy- Reno, his name was. I had a last minute flash of hope that he was going to stop this stupidity and just get me a couple of bodyguards, but let me stay in Midgar, when he turned to me and said 'Take care, Elena.'

Bastard. I just glared at him, though out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Turks exchanging a look. Well, let them think what they wanted to! I couldn't care less.

Tseng came over to me. He nodded at me, smiling. 'Miss Silva, this is Reno.'

I looked at him. Typical slum child done good- from the streets to the pits of hell in the guise of the Shinra Building. Huh. If I had to be stuck on this thing, could it not be with the exotic, well built Wutain? Why did it have to be with this, this... traitor to his people? If he was from the slums which, judging by the thin red gang tattoos on his face, he was, then him being in Shinra was worse than despicable. Come to think of it, it was pretty bad for a Wutain, too. Shinra had committed such atrocities against them...

'Well, you should go on board,' said Tseng. 'The sooner you leave, the better.'

I felt a flash of annoyance. I wasn't going to get a tour of any kind? No instructions of any sort. Gods, I hate being treated like a child, but annoyingly, it made me _act _like one. I turned and flounced into the craft, not stopping to say anything to either man. God, it was cold inside. Not too surprising, I guess, considering the entire thing was made of some kind of metal. Still, I hoped there was a heating system of some sort. Or that my bed would be warm and comfortable, seeing as I was aiming to spend a lot of time in it.

I was standing, just staring at everything, when a voice spoke from behind me.

'Um, I'm not sure where everything is. Like, rooms and stuff.'

I spun round quickly, a bit alarmed. When I saw it was just Reno, I relaxed. Slightly. It made me feel a little better that he didn't know any more than me, I suppose. I looked at him for a moment. He was standing, hands shoved into his pockets a few feet away. He was very skinny, and I wondered exactly how effective a Turk he could be when he looked as though a strong breeze would knock him clean over. I wasn't sure how to reply, so I just shrugged.

'No, I don't suppose you do,' I said carelessly.

His cheeks flushed angrily. 'Well. I'm gonna go find Cid,' he said shortly.

I hesitated for a second, watching him walk towards a large door at the left end of the corridor. Sighing, I took off after him, as the last of our luggage was put through the main door. It slammed shut, sealing my fate.

Cid Highwind, the pilot, was waiting for us in what he called the war room, but what really just looked like a closet- small and dark. He was an... interesting man. He smelled like grease 

and cigarette smoke, and he had a hip flask poking out of his pocket which did _oodles_ to reassure me, but Reno later informed me it was filled with... tea. What a _freak_.

He looked at us, frowning slightly. His face was stubbly and shone with what could have been sweat, could have been grease. Finally, he spoke.

'You keep outta my way, I keep outta yours, got it? You got an area on the other side of the ship, and you gotta stay there, okay?'

Reno raised an eyebrow. 'Nice to see you too, Cid,' he said, drily.

Cid glared at him. 'Yeah, I remember you, smart mouth.' His face softened slightly. 'If you keep to yourself, I'll show ya the controls one of these days, okay?'

Reno grinned at him. 'Deal. You wanna show us where we're staying?'

'Nope. It's down the corridor, keep going. We're taking off soon, so if the craft starts to shake, don't piss your pants.'

'Oh, nice,' I muttered.

The pilot rolled his eyes at me, then indicated the door. 'Go on, get. We need to start this thing up.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Reno turned to me. 'Come on, Laney.'

I fixed him with my nastiest look. 'Do _not _call me that.'

He looked surprised, then a bit annoyed. 'Jeez. Fine, come on _Ele-na._' He rolled his eyes. 'Let's go.'

Still glaring at him, I followed him in the direction Cid had pointed us in. Reno opened a door revealing- another dingy corridor, with four doors. He went along, systematically opening them. 'Kitchen slash lounge, bathroom, bedroom, bedroom,' he announced.

I looked into each, noting that the rooms were actually quite nice on the inside, if sparsely furnished. The kitchen was the biggest room, and it looked modern and well stocked. I was glad to see we had both a bath and a shower.

'Take whichever room,' said Reno.

I nodded in acknowledgement, taking the first one I came to. I wasn't really bothered about size.

'I'll go get your stuff,' said Reno. I think I had annoyed him, and I felt a flash of guilt. He hadn't really done anything to me, after all. But then I reminded myself of the situation, and forcibly hardened my heart. I am not by nature an unpleasant person, but I would _not _be nice to some Shinra lapdog.

I sat on the bed, wishing my stomach would settle. Gods, what a hideous situation... I couldn't think of anything worse, really, than this.

There was a soft knock on the door, and then Reno came in, carrying my suitcase. I was surprised at the ease with which he brought it in- he had to be stronger than he looked- the suitcase was very heavy. He placed it near the bed and opened his mouth to speak when a sudden jolt sent him jerking forward. He grabbed onto the doorhandle to steady himself. I looked out the window, and gasped: the world was tipping away from us at dizzying speed, the sky rushing to meet us.

It didn't last long, but I was relieved all the same when it ended and we were moving steadily, not exactly on solid ground, but calm enough that my stomach wasn't leaping into my ribcage. I let out a breath, murmuring 'God...'

'First time in an airship?' asked Reno, sounding amused.

God, was it anything to do with him? 'Yes,' I said, shortly. Then I added pointedly 'Thank you for bringing my bag in.'

Reno stared at me for a second, then he shook his head and curtsied, sarcastically. 'You're welcome, ma'am.' He turned and left the room, scowling.

I rolled my eyes. God, did he think we were going to be all buddy-pally with each other? Yeah, like hell...

I remained in my room, doing what can only really be called sulking, for a long time. But I could not ignore my body- I was hungry and thirsty. Sighing, I dragged myself to my feet.

Reno was in the lounge, watching a TV show and looking bored. He looked up when I came in and smiled. He had a surprisingly nice smile- infectious, and rather childlike in a way. I wondered vaguely how old he was, figured we must be pretty much the same age.

'How're ya doing?' he asked, watching me as I went to the fridge and poured a glass of milk.

'Fine.'

He was silent for a moment, but I could feel his eyes on me as I spread butter on a slice of bread. 'So... you at college or somethin'?' he asked, sounding awkward.

'That's none of your business, really.' I searched in the cupboard for some kind of jam, but found only kobonut butter. Ugh. I decided I'd rather have just butter.

Reno sighed. 'Look, this ain't my fault, Elena. I'm not exactly over the moon to be up here, y'know?'

I snorted slightly. 'I would have thought that doing anything to get your head a little further up President Shinra's ass would be a joy for you.'

Reno smirked, but I dtected a hint of danger behind the humor in his eyes. 'Greeaat,' he drawled. 'Just peachy. The hotshot commander's daughter is anti-Shinra. No-one could script it better than that, huh.'

I glared at him. 'Don't mock you, me Shinran whore.'

'Ooh.' He grinned. 'You're feisty. I like you.'

'Oh, fuck you Reno,' I snapped, grabbing my plate and heading from the room. Behind me, I could hear him laughing.

'I just knew we were gonna get along,' he called out in a sing song voice. My only reply was to slam my bedroom door shut.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock. For the first few bangs, I ignored it resolutely, but eventually I sighed. '_What,' _I hissed.

The door opened, and Reno popped his head round a bit. 'Tseng just emailed me. They've got some kind of lead on the guys that are after you. Nice and quick, huh?' he smiled.

'The sooner this is over the better,' I said, screwing up my nose. 'Could you shut the door, please? It was just starting to get warm in here?'

Reno sighed. 'Right. Well, have a good day,' he said, pulling the door shut.

I felt a little twist in my stomach. I'm not usually so unpleasant- in fact, I'm usually a very nice person, friendly and kind. But something about the Shinra just makes something inside me go cold...

After I'd finished the bread and milk, I took a nap. Oddly enough, for the first time in days my sleep as easy and uninterrupted by nightmares. Huh. That was probably because I was miles away from my father, the cause of all my misery and sleeplessness.

I wasn't sure what to do now I was awake. I didn't have many books with me, so I didn't want to read them all within the first couple of days, and I didn't want to go into the lounge in case Reno was in there. After a bit of deliberation, I decided I would take a bath, then get something to eat, then go to bed. Dull as hell, but what else could I do?

I grabbed my nicest, sweetest smelling bath essence, and my biggest, fluffiest towel, then rummaged through my bag, where I knew there was a copy of Midgar Mode, my favorite lifestyle magazine. I gathered it all together then went to the bathroom. The door was locked.

I felt a surge of annoyance, though it wasn't fair of me, really. Reno had as much right as me to use the bathroom- I suppose. But still, it was rather annoying. Just as I was about to huff back to my room, the door opened.

Reno started slightly. 'Fuck, Lena you made me jump.' His red hair was damp, one clump of it sending a steady drip of water onto his cheek, which he brushed irritably away.

'I was gonna take a bath,' I said quietly.

He nodded. 'I only had a shower, so there'll be tons of hot water.'

'Okay.' I went inside, heard him sigh behind me.

'Have a nice bath,' he muttered, sounding annoyed.

I regretted my rudeness slightly. I was even considering going out to the lounge to apologise or something. But... the water looked so nice, the bath essence tainting it pure blue, sending the scent of peppermint into the air. I brushed my conscience to the side, letting the heat envelope me.

A/N- apologies if Cid was ooc- I've never really got his character too much. Please review XD


	3. Reno 2

Chapter Three

Reno

Jeez, what a lovely girl, I thought sarcastically to myself as I went back in to the lounge to watch a movie. That was about the only good thing about this damn thing- someone had put about a hundred DVDs in here. Some of them, like the Loveless adaptation _ugh_, I wouldn't touch with a seventy foot stick. Though they might be Elena's thing. She didn't seem the movie watching type though. More the sitting there and glaring kinda girl.

I found a copy of 'Terrorist,' this uber lame true life action thing about TORNADO, an anti Shinra group that got absolutely slaughtered by Soldier some years ago. It's cheesy as hell, and basically just Shinran propaganda, but I was in the mood for it. Plus, it would piss Laney Lena off if she happened to walk in.

I kicked off my loafers and got comfortable on the couch. I was still getting used to the sensation of being in motion the whole time, though the vague nausea was improving. It helped that it was getting dark out- I couldn't see the clouds going by at such a dizzying speed anymore.

I was getting pretty into 'Terrorist' when Elena emerged from her bath, all pink in the cheeks and wearing a bathrobe. She just rolled her eyes when she saw what I was watching, then headed over to the kitchen.

'Nice bath?' I had to _try _at least, right? Apparently not. She just looked at me like I was crap on her shoe.

'It was fine,' she said, sounding impatient, like I'd interrupted something far more important than opening a packet of pasta.

A terrible thought occurred to me. Up in the sky, there's no takeout! I was gonna have to cook for myself! I groaned, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes.

'What's your problem?' Elena asked, not sympathetically at all.

'Nothing to worry your pretty head about,' I told her, patronisingly. Ugh, I hate cooking. And I'm so bad at it too. Who really has the patience to watch crap simmer and boil and broil and whatever, when you can pick up a phone and have a pizza in ten minutes, give or take? Not me.

She rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded like 'jerk.' What she said next surprised me though. 'You want me to make extra for you?'

I blinked, not sure I was hearing right. 'Ngh?' I asked, articulately.

'Extra pasta,' she enunciated, as though I had mental problems. 'Would you like me to make some for you?'

'Um, thanks.' I watched her prepare it suspiciously, as though she was planning on offing me with a poisoned meal. But as far as I could tell, it was just literally pasta and tomatoes.

She dumped some onto a plate, then put it on the table. She made up another plate, then picked it up and started walking to her room.

'Laney, wait.' Shit, no. 'I mean, Elena. Wait.' She turned round to face me, expression stony. 'we're stuck like this, we may as well be on speaking terms, right?' I switched off the movie, watching her expectantly.

She hesitated, and just for a moment I saw what could have been softness in her. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone again, and her face set once more. 'I think I'll eat in my room,' she said, coldly. She didn't say goodnight, didn't even comment when I said thank you. Then there was just a door slamming, and that was that.

I ate the pasta, then looked at my watch, the bitchin' black leather and chrome one another Turk, Cissnei, had given me for my birthday. It was early evening, ish. Eight o'clock. The night stretched ahead of me, boring and lonely. Stupid Tseng. Stupid Shinra Society stupid magazine. And especially stupid Elena. I hate having nothing to do.

When 'Terrorist' finished, it was nine fifteen. Wow, a whole freakin' _hour _had gone by. Woo. I didn't want to watch another movie, and I had no books or anything with me. So I went to bed. Yes, that's right. Reno of the Turks went to bed at _nine fifteen_. Who the fuck was Tseng trying to kid, saying this mission wouldn't be so bad?

Because I'd gone to bed practically at sunset, I woke up at five o'clock the next morning. Elena was in the kitchen already, drinking coffee and reading a book. She nodded curtly at me before going straight back to the novel. I rolled my eyes. God, talk about PMS...

I went over to the counter and stared at the kettle. Um... 'Elena?'

She sighed. 'What?'

'Uh, how do you turn the kettle on?'

She looked at me, in disbelief. 'Are you kidding?'

'No,' I snapped back, a bit defensively. 'I have a different one at home.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Right. Well, it's the red one on the side.'

'Thanks,' I muttered. I was a bit embarrassed, but I decided I had to keep trying with Elena. After all, this was a weird situation- it was understandable she'd feel a bit awkward. 'Did you sleep okay?'

She didn't answer, just turned the page of the book. I bit my lip, watching her out of the corner of my eye as the kettle boiled, not entirely sure what to say to her. So I just sighed, and looked out the window.

We were passing over North Corel, as far as I could tell. Soon we would be over Nibelheim I imagined. It was strange, travelling with no particular destination, kind of... unsettling. Sighing again, I put some coffee in a mug, then opened the fridge, pulling out the milk. Elena coughed slightly, then put her book down and rubbed her eyes. I wondered how she'd slept.

As I was pouring the hot water, the phone rang, startling me. A bit cautiously, I answered it, then relaxed when I heard Tseng's familiar voice.

'Reno, how was the first night?'

I shrugged, then remembered he couldn't see. 'Okay, I guess. There's not much to do on this damn ship. I was in bed at nine,' I grumbled.

Tseng chuckled. 'That's something I never thought I'd hear. How's Elena?'

'Fine, I imagine. She'd have to be talking to me in order for me to know.' She shot me a glare and, maturely, I stuck my tongue out at her.

I heard Tseng sigh. 'She'll come round. Just be nice to her.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, how's things going?'

'Unfortunately, our first lead was a red herring. So we're, uh, back to square one.'

'Great,' I said, sourly. 'So how long are we gonna be up here?'

'I don't know.' Tseng sounded apologetic. 'Just be patient.'

'Fine. Look, keep me up to date, okay?'

'Of course. I'll speak to you later.'

'Yeah. Bye, Tseng.' I hung up, then turned to Elena, who was watching me. 'Nothing yet.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Great. The almighty Shinra is so impressive,' she said, voice dripping sarcasm.

'God...' I stared at her. 'What is your problem? If it wasn't for Shinra, you wouldn't have your comfortable life, your god knows how many million gil inheritance...'

She cut me off. 'At what price though?'

I blinked. 'What do you mean?'

'God... are you really that... _naive_?'

I've been called many things, but naive has never been one of them. I snorted with laughter. 'What are you talking about, Lena?'

'Ele-na,' she enunciated, then she shook her head. 'You don't get it at all,' she said, dismissively, picking her book up again.

'So tell me,' I challenged her.

She smirked, entirely humorless, then stood up. God, she was small... delicate... I blinked, then pushed the thought away.

'I don't think so,' she said smoothly. She didn't even look at me as she left the room. _Bitch..._

xoxoxoxo

Man, was I ever bored. There was nothing to do, however many thousand feet up in the sky. If Elena was slightly more friendly and slightly less of a bitch, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But there was _nothing _to do, _no-one _to talk to. I hate silence, so I spent the afternoon watching movies. But even that began to drag after a while.

At three, I decided to ring HQ, to see if there was anyone around to talk to. Tseng answered, sounding harassed, and passed the phone to Cissnei.

'Hey, honey!' She sounded pleased to hear from me, though I could hear some tension in her voice. I had a feeling that Silva had everyone working all out to eradicate the threat to Elena. A cruel thought in the back of my head wondered why he was bothering, but I shook it away.

'Hey, Cissnei. How are you?'

'I'm good. How are you? Tseng tells me you're finding the Silva girl a bit difficult?'

'Ha.' I sighed. 'You could say that. Turns out Princess is as anti-Shinra as they come.'

'Ooh.' Cissnei breathed in sharply. 'Not good. The two of you have been arguing?'

I shrugged. 'Nah, not _fighting _as such. But.. she's not too friendly.'

Cissnei clucked sympathetically. 'Aw, honey. Well, give me a call anytime, okay?'

'Yeah... Thanks Cissnei.'

'Okay. I'll talk to you later, sweetie.'

I sighed as I hung up. Cissnei's great. She's like a big sister or something, really kind and friendly. I wished that I was back with the others. This job sucked hugely.

I had a nap for a while, feeling like an old man. What a stupid mission, I thought to myself. It was weird, though; as I felt myself slipping back into sleep, my last thought was of Elena, imagining how she'd look if she were to smile.

A/N- I apologise if this story is moving at a weird pace- things will start to get going soon. In the next chapter, Elena has a crisis of conscience, and Tseng has some bad news. Please review!


	4. Elena 2

Chapter Four

Elena

That evening, I started to make dinner at about seven. Reno wasn't in the lounge, so I assumed he was in his room, or perhaps annoying Cid. Though he'd been an asshole earlier, I made enough food for the both of us, figuring if he attempted to cook, he would probably end up blowing the ship up.

I knocked quite softly on his door. At first there was no response, but then I heard him say 'Yeah?'

'I made dinner, if you want it.'

'Oh.' He sounded surprised. 'Thanks.'

I went back to the kitchen, serving the food I'd made onto plates. It wasn't exactly gourmet- just pasta again, with warm bread- but it would do.

We sat on opposite sides of the table, pointedly not looking at each other. It was like that the whole time we were eating- not a word was spoken.

Reno stood up, reaching across the table for my plate. I watched him as he washed the dishes, doing it in a less inept way than I'd imagined he would.

'Thank you,' I said, quietly.

He just shrugged.

'Can I use the phone?' I asked him.

He arched a slim, red eyebrow. 'Can you?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Please may I use it?' God, who'd have thought _he _was a grammar nazi?

He just shrugged. 'I don't care if you do.' He shoved the last plate onto the draining board, then virtually threw himself onto the couch. He pushed a button. I winced, as 'Terrorist' graced the screen once again.

As I was heading to the phone, he called out 'Time difference.'

I blinked. 'What?'

'I wouldn't ring Midgar, if I were you.' He pointed to something I hadn't yet noticed, a digital clock that informed us what time zone we were in, and what time it was in the major cities. In Midgar, it was three am.

'Thanks,' I muttered. Shit... I'd wanted to ring my best friend, Rosa, to see if she could think of _any_thing positive in this situation. 'Cause I sure as hell couldn't.

xoxoxoxo

I read three magazines and half a book, and it was still only ten o'clock. I tried to get to sleep, but it was no use. At half ten, I headed into the kitchen, to make some warm milk.

Reno was asleep on the couch, sitting upright. His head was leaning forwards slightly, and I could see the shadows cast on his face by his eyelashes. It made him look young, almost vulnerable, and I frowned, feeling disquieted. This whole thing would be a lot easier if I just flat out hated him, I decided.

I deliberately made as much noise as possible in the kitchen, slamming the fridge door and bashing the pots and pans. His head jerked up and he blinked, looking confused.

There's these few seconds when you first wake up, I've decided, where your mind tells you where you _want _to be, rather than where you are. And so when you look around and see the reality... well. You feel like crap.

Reno sighed heavily and muttered something under his breath. He looked as though he was going to say something to me, but I turned around to face the wall, effectively cutting him off.

'You know, your 'bitch' act is already wearing a little thin. Wanna try something shocking, and actually be friendly?'

I glared at him, though I felt a little guilty. 'I don't wanna be here,' I told him, simply.

He rolled his eyes. 'And this is my idea of a holiday,' he drawled, sarcastically.

I slammed down the milk. Some of it sloshed out the top of the bottle. '_Fuck!_'

He raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face. 'Nice language, Lena. Kiss your mom with that mouth?'

I grabbed a cloth, swiping at the milk, feeling slightly stupid. I rinsed it then hung it on the side of the basin, before pouring some milk into a pan, then turning the oven on.

Behind me, Reno was whistling. It took me a moment to notice this, and when I did, my first instinct was to tell him to shut the hell up. But then I stopped myself. Because, well, _shit_. Reno could _really_ whistle.

His tone was perfect- soft, almost breathy, and perfectly pitched. I didn't know what the tune was, but it was perfectly timed, his rhythm impeccable. I felt my breath hitch.

'Reno...'

He stopped. 'Sorry.'

'No, I...' I trailed off. What was I doing? Was I really going to compliment him on his damn whistling? So I just shrugged and went to the phone. It was still early in Midgar, but Rosa was a morning person. I dialled, and the second I heard her voice the tiniest weight lifted.

xoxoxox

I slept til quite late the next day, then decided to do some homework. I was studying at Midgar University, or at least, I was attempting to. Major in political science, minor in the Costan language. It was fine, most of the time, especially the Costan. I figured that, if nothing else, working would at least kill some time.

I got pretty carried away with it, not emerging til mid afternoon. Reno looked up at me from the couch.

'I was starting to think you jumped out the window,' he said, watching me.

'I had some things to do.'

He shrugged. 'Nothing to do with me, what you do with your time.' He smirked. 'For all I care, you could be in there, mas-'

'Reno, jesus!' I cut him off, giving him a disgusted look. 'You are such a pig!'

'I was just kidding. God, Elena. Lighten up.'

The phone rang, which was probably the only thing that stopped me killing him. I answered it, glaring at him.

'Hello?

'Oh, hello.' It was a woman, though I didn't recognise her voice. 'Elena?'

Duh. 'Yeah, this is Elena.'

'I'm Cissnei, one of the Turks. '

'I'll get Reno for you.' I practically threw the phone at him. 'It's Cissnei.'

'Thank you, _so _much.' His tone was sickeningly sarcastic. He gave me an exaggeratedly sweet smile. Ugh. What an idiot.

xoxoxoxo

I decided cooking for the two of us was safer than letting him cook for himself and burning the airship. I rooted through the cupboards, finding things to make a chicken stew bake, something my mom had taught me to make. While I was doing this, Reno came and sat at the kitchen table. For a while he just watched me in silence, but then he spoke.

'I'm sorry for what I said. It was crude and innapropriate.'

'Your friend tell you to apologise?'

He rolled his eyes. 'No. I wanted to.'

I sliced an onion, blinking away that tears that came with the scent. 'Oh. Thank you.'

'And... well. I did talk to Cissnei, about... how we're not really getting on. And she said I should, you know, be understanding and stuff, and I don't think I am, so, I'm sorry about that as well.'

Hmm. So he wasn't a complete idiot. Who'da thunk? 'So. Cissnei your girlfriend?'

He snorted. 'More like my mom. Or my prison guard.'

I turned up the heat on the oven, then grabbed a towel and dabbed at my eyes. Stupid onions.

'Can I help?'

I considered this. 'You could make some salad.'

He blinked. 'Um. What with?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Lettuce. Cucumber. You know, the usual.'

'Oh. Okay.' He went to the fridge, staring at what was contained with in.

'It's the green stuff,' I advised him. He made a face at me, and I gave him what could have been a smile. Maybe.

xoxoxox

After dinner, he helped me with the washing up. I was annoyed to find that, depite the fact he was a Turk, and therefore a hideous person, he was quite likeable. He seemed almost sweet sometimes. He was clumsy, and he was constantly dropping things, but he was almost always laughing or smiling. It was hard not to laugh along with him, and a couple of times I got caught off guard, and let out a chuckle before I could stop myself.

When we were done, he turned to me. 'Wanna watch a film?'

'No, I should do some work.' I wasn't happy with this, with the idea that I was fraternising with Shinra. I gave him a polite, but cold, smile.

He sighed. 'Aw, pleeeease?' he whined, like a kid.

'No. I have to work.'

'Le-na.' He gave me a pathetic look, batting his spiky, red gold eyelashes. 'Please?'

I felt my will fading. He looked awfully appealing like that. 'Fine.'

I sat at the other end of the couch, as far from him as possible. He grinned at me.

'What do you want to watch?'

I shrugged. 'I don't care.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Okay. Fine.' He pulled out a disc and shoved it clumsily into the machine. I winced at the slight crunching sound it made, but a couple of moments later the trailers popped up on the screen, so he hadn't broken it. I wondered what he'd put on.

A second later, the screen turned sugar pink. I gave him a bemused look from the corner of my eye: he was just watching the screen, grinning slightly. The movie's title popped up on the screen- 'Mog's House- The Movie.'

'You have got to be kidding me.' I stared at him, in shock.

He burst into laughter. 'Aw, girls love Mog! Don't they?'

Rolling my eyes, I rose from the couch. 'Enjoy your movie, Reno.'

His laughter followed me to my room, along with his cheerfully out of tune rendition of the theme tune. I couldn't quite keep the smile off my face, though I tried my absolute hardest.

A/N- Ugh, the updates have been non-existent, cause I landed myself in hospital :-p But I'm gonna try and get everything going again, as well as posting a sequel to another fic. Please review XD


	5. Reno 3

Chapter Five

Reno

I felt strangely pleased as I sat watching 'Mog's House,' because I had a feeling I may have actually made Elena smile. I wasn't happy 'cause I had a crush on her, or anything. No. Not at all. That's a crazy thing to think. I was just happy because it meant the atmosphere on the ship might be slightly less hideous for just a few hours.

I watched the whole movie, then looked at the clock. Hm, not too late to ring Cissnei and tell her she'd been right, I should just apologise to Elena, even if I'd done nothing wrong. It seemed to have helped, even if just a little bit.

But Cissnei didn't answer her phone. I considered ringing Rude, but then, he's not exactly one for chats. I coulda rung Tseng, but he woulda just wanted to talk about what was going on, and how they were doing in eradicating the threat against the Silvas, and I didn't wanna talk work. So I just put the phone down and sat for a moment, suddenly feeling pretty lonely.

See, the thing is, if the Turks aren't around for me to talk to, I don't really _have _anyone else. I mean, there are other people at Shinra, I guess. There's... well. Anna, that secretary I'd had a couple of dates with, and, and... oh, Teg, one of the other Turks. He's cool. Kind of. But, there's no-one that I can just talk to, except those three: Cissnei, Tseng and Rude. I've got no childhood friends, no people that I go and have a few beers with once in a while. It's sad in a way, that I'm twenty-one, and yet I have very little to show for it.

All these thoughts were making me feel pretty down. I remembered that I'd seen a few bottles of wine in one of the cupboards, and figured it wouldn't hurt to just have a glass. Just to take the edge off, y'know?

I whistled as I pulled the bottle out the cupboard- Costan Red. That was some nice stuff. I don't generally drink wine- I mean, it's kind of a girly drink, really. But if I had to make do with the stuff, I was glad it was a nice one.

I was gonna have a glass- I mean, drinking by yourself is not the most fun thing to do. Plus, it's a bit weird. Drinking is usually such a social thing, that getting plastered by yourself seems a little, well. Pathetic.

Unfortunately, when I've had one drink, the natural thing seems to be- have another. And then another. And maybe another.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I am something of a lightweight. By the time Elena came out of her room to get a drink, I was totally smashed.

'Reno?' She blinked at me, sprawled as I was halfway over the sofa and the floor. 'Are you, um, alright?'

I beamed up at her. A bitch she might be, but man, she was _pretty_. 'Hey, Laney.'

She wrinkled her nose up. 'You smell like a vineyard. And it's El-e-na.' Her eyes widened. I followed her gaze, saw I'd managed to go through three bottles of wine, and some darkly colored liquor. 'God, you need to sleep this off.'

'No! What a waste. I need to sit through my drunkenness,' I slurred at her.

She rolled her eyes. 'I'm making you a coffee.'

'See!' I tried to stand, with woeful consequences. As I attempted to pick myself up from the floor, she went into the kitchen, scowling. 'I knew you loved me,' I told her, happily. Ooh, I was standing up. My legs felt pretty weak, but... oh well. I flopped onto the sofa, then watched her as she boiled the kettle. Her blonde hair fell into her eyes, and she brushed it from her face. I could see her eyelashes, casting shadows down her face.

'Pretty,' I mumbled.

Elena coughed softly. I noticed a slight red tinge to her cheeks and grinned. Ha. The old Reno charm.

She shoved a mug into my hands. Some of the liquid sloshed over the edge, catching my hands. It was boiling hot.

'Owwww,' I bleated.

She smirked at me. 'Oh, I'm sorry,' she said, oh so innocently. Huh. What a beanie. And the coffee wasn't sweet enough.

Elena busied herself doing the washing up. Once again, I found myself gazing at her. She was soft, I decided. Soft hair, soft skin... not that I could say either of those things with certainty. They looked as though they would be though.

She was probably a sweet person, when she wasn't being a total bitch. I wondered what she was like with her friends. I wondered what she looked like when she really smiled...

Ugh. Was I turning into a chick or something? I really _must _have had too much to drink. I made a face, then forced down a mouthful of the coffee Elena had made for me. Yuck. I hate coffee sometimes. It's one of my least favorite smells- coffee, cigarettes and Midgar sewers in midsummer. Yuck yuck yuck. Suddenly in a really bad mood, I put the mug on the table.

Elena was watching me, I realised, a kind of fascinated expression on her face. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she rolled her eyes. 'Mature,' she said, drily.

I glared at her, then sighed. 'My head hurts,' I told her tragically. The first signs of a hangover were starting to hit me, annoyingly quickly.

She smiled. 'Oh no, you poor dear,' she said, her voice sing-song and insincere.

'Huh. You are so mean,' I told her. I wasn't really serious, though. Actually, I was kinda relieved that she was acting a little less like she had a stick the size of a Mako cannon up her ass.

She laughed softly. 'That's probably true.'

She had a nice laugh. It was a shame she didn't use it enough.

'I should probably go to bed,' I muttered, pulling myself to my feet. My head was starting to really kill, and I figured I should quit while I was ahead with Elena.

'That's sounds like a plan,' she said, a gentle note of teasing in her voice.

I stuck my tongue out at her, then stumbled to the door. 'Night, Laney.'

'It's Elena!' I heard her yell from behind me. She didn't sound too mad though. That night, I fell asleep smiling.

I wasn't smiling when I woke up and my head felt like someone had been hammering nails into my eyes all night. When I stumbled into the sitting room at one in the afternoon, Elena gave me a sweet smile.

'Morning, sunshine!' she said, loudly.

I winced. 'Yeah, morning.'

She dropped a plastic tumbler, the clattering sound ripping through my skull.

'Oops, sorry,' she said, cheerfully.

I looked at her in disbelief. 'Laney, are you into sadomasochism?'

She gave me a withering glare. 'No.'

'I mean, it's cool if you are. You know, whips and chains and all that stuff always sounded like fun...'

She threw a cup at me. It glanced off my head, just barely, and would have been fine, had it not been full of milk.

Elena clapped her hand over her mouth. For a second I thought she felt bad, but then I realised she was holding back a laugh.

'Oh god, that is one of the funniest things I've ever seen,' she hooted, as cold milk dripped over my face.

'You think this is funny?' I asked her, rising to my feet. I advanced towards her. She took a step back, looking a bit alarmed. I'm pretty good at looking pissed off when I wanna be. Plus, I'm a Turk. Our reputation precedes us. 'Hmm?'

She didn't notice that I'd picked up the glass of water til it was too late, and she was soaking. She gaped at me, her thick blonde hair hanging in her face, big brown eyes blinking rapidly to try and keep the cool liquid out of them. I laughed.

'Lookin' good, Laney,' I teased, gently.

I thought she was going to hit me, but instead she just picked up a sponge, held it under the tap, then chucked it at me.

Her aim was good. It whacked me straight in the face. I couldn't help but laugh, knowing how dumb I must look. For the first time as well, Elena cracked, a genuine grin spreading over her face. I was right, I realised. She _did _look pretty when she smiled.

She eyed me suspiciously. 'Truce?'

I considered it. 'Truce,' I agreed.

We kept watching each other, though, each waiting for the other to go back on the promise.

'Don't trust me, Laney?'

She tossed another sponge at me, flashing a dazzling smile as it hit me straight on the forehead. 'Not as far as I could throw you.'

'Ha ha,' I muttered, as I headed to the shower. I was actually a bit embarrassed- Reno of the Turks just got totally owned by a girl? That would not be one I was telling Cissnei and the gang anytime soon.

After I'd gotten changed out of my milk sodden clothes, and washed my hair, I went back to the kitchen. Elena had finished doing the washing up, and was sitting at the table, calmly drinking a coffee. I gave her an injured look.

'That was really mean, you know. Considering that I'm ill and all.'

She snorted. 'Being hung-over is not being ill. And Tseng keeps calling.'

I rolled my eyes as I got up and stomped towards the phone. 'Why didn't you wake me up?'

She blinked, innocently. 'You're ill. I was letting you sleep.'

I had to hide a smile as I dialled Tseng's number. As much of a bitch as she was, I had a feeling I was gonna be very fond of Elena before too long.

A/N-Yet again, I'm being awful at keeping the updates going, but as most of this fic is finished, they should be coming a lot quicker from now on. This fic is pretty tough to write, as there are essentially only two characters, so if the pace is weird, I apologise once again. Please review!


	6. Elena 3

Chapter Six

Elena

Whilst Reno sat and got impatient, waiting to be put through to his leader, I decided to try and clean the living room up. It had only been a couple of days, but I was conscious that the place was already getting a little messy. I'm not exactly a neat freak, but I do like things to be orderly. I had a pretty strong feeling I wouldn't be able to rely on Reno to keep things that way.

As I dusted the surfaces, I found myself eavesdropping on his conversation a little. Tseng had sounded in a snot earlier- I wondered if he was going to yell at Reno. The answer soon came.

'Hey Boss,' the redhead said cheerfully. Ha. Ill my ass. 'Laney tells me you called?'

I shot him a death glare. '_ELENA_,' I hissed. He just beamed at me.

'So, What's up?'

For a moment, he sat and listened. Huh. Was this the longest time he'd ever been quiet for any period of time?

After a moment though, I saw that his cheeks were gradually getting pinker and pinker. He kept scratching at his neck, as well, awkward little digs that make the skin there red and sore looking.

'I'm, I'm sorry. I thought...' I frowned. What was Tseng saying to him that was getting him so upset? Reno must have done something really bad, I thought to myself.

I headed to the other end of the room, because I didn't want him to think I was listening. I wished I wasn't, after a minute: was almost starting to feel bad for Reno. He seemed to be getting gradually more and more upset. He kept starting to speak, presumably in his own defence, before stopping, I guessed so Tseng could yell at him a little more.

After nearly five minutes of this, Reno's shoulders slumped. 'I'm sorry,' he mumbled. 'Yes. S,sorry.' He pressed the 'end call' button, then put the receiver back in the cradle.

He looked so much like a little kid whose mom had just given out to him for no reason, that I found myself asking 'Are you okay?'

I think he must have forgotten I was there, because when he looked up and noticed me, he flushed the color of a beet. 'It's fine,' he said, sounding subdued.

'You want a coffee?' I asked, my tone gentler than I'd wanted it to be.

He looked surprised. 'No. But, thanks.'

'Did he have any news?' I tried to sound as casual as possible, not wanting him to get annoyed at my blatant gossip mongering.

He shook his head. 'Nah. Just wanted to yell at me,' he said, giving a short, humorless laugh.

I felt a pang of unwelcome tenderness, seeing Reno look so cowed and vulnerable. 'Oh.'

There was an awkward silence. Reno stood, uncurling his long body from the couch. 'Well. I'm gonna go, you know. Read a book or something.'

I nodded. 'Ok.'

He threw me a jokey salute as he left the room. I sat by myself for a moment, feeling very uncomfortable. I didn't like this: I wasn't supposed to feel for Reno, and I most _certainly_ wasn't supposed to like him.

That afternoon, I did more homework, then I read a little. God, but it was boring. There was nothing to _do _on this damn plane.

I guess I could have gone into the living room and watched a movie or something, but I really didn't want to run into Reno. It was such a _pain_- the whole time I'd been working, or at least trying to, I couldn't get the image of Reno's face, when he was on the phone, out of my head. I couldn't concentrate on the pluperfect in Costan, I couldn't concentrate on my book... all I could think of was _him_, and it was driving me nuts.

I couldn't hide in there all day. Eventually, my throat began to hurt, and I realised I hadn't had anything to drink all day. I checked my watch and blinked- it was eight o'clock in the evening?! And I hadn't drunk anything, _all day_? Jeez, it was a wonder I hadn't passed out yet.

An ominous scent hit my nostrils as I stepped out into the dingy corridor. Was that... burning? I stood still for a moment, breathing in deeply, hoping to all the gods that the engine wasn't about to explode, and we weren't about to plummet to the ground in a fiery mess.

But then I heard a muffled _'Fuck,_' coming from the kitchen, followed by a clattering sound, then a much louder _'FUCK!'_

I pushed open the door, and was greeted by the sight of Reno's bright red hair, bobbing above a thick cloud of smoke. Seriously, there was so much of it that I couldn't see anything- not the T.V, or the couches. A wet rag hit my chest, and I grabbed it, blinking.

'You may wanna cover your face with that,' Reno's voice piped up helpfully.

I put the cloth over my face, then ventured forward a few feet, into the kitchen area. I quickly saw what was wrong.

'You tried to cook?'

Reno nodded. 'Yeah. It was in the freezer, y'know. Just put it in the oven for thirty minutes and all that crap.'

I waved a plume of smoke from my eyes. 'But...'

'But I musta read the instructions wrong. Or put it on the wrong heat, or something. Because, ah, well. This happened.'

I sighed, moving over to open one of the windows. Below us, I could see the cool waters that surrounded Mideel. In about an hour, I calculated, we'd be moving over that weird temple that no-one had ever been able to get into. Some people thought that it had been built by the Ancients, though most of the people that said that were nuts.

'What temperature did you put it up to?' I asked him.

He scratched his neck. 'Ah, I'm not sure. Like, three hundred?'

I tried to stay calm. 'Reno, there isn't a three hundred on the oven.'

'Oh.'

Oh indeed. I rolled my eyes. 'Look, in the future, just let me do the cooking. It's probably safer for our health, mm?'

Reno pouted. 'I was just trying to do something nice.'

'Well... thank you. But,' I swallowed hard. 'I don't mind doing it.'

He sighed. 'My mom was right, you know,' he said, mournfully.

I blinked. 'Huh?'

'I'd make a useless husband. Slash human being.'

I hid a smile. 'Your mom says that?'

He nodded. 'Yeah. She used to try and teach me how to cook and wash clothes and stuff like that, cause my dad was such a pointless waste of humanity, according to her. But I never managed to pick it all up.'

'She sounds cool,' I remarked.

'Oh yeah. She was.'

I felt a funny twist in the pit of my stomach. 'Your mom's dead?'

'Yeah. My dad too.' His tone was casual, almost matter of fact, but I saw a flash of sadness in his eyes.

'I'm sorry.'

He shrugged. 'Not your fault, is it? Anyway. I think the smoke has nearly gone. What do I use to clean the oven with?'

'Ummm,' Distractedly, I rummaged in the cupboards, til I founds one of those spray bottles with the bald guy on the front, brandishing a rag. From the smile on his face, I was guessing he'd just battled a tough stain and, having no experience whatsoever with oven cleaners, I was going to have to trust that.

Reno sniggered. 'Gawd, this guy is the _spitting _image of my buddy, Rude. He's a Turk, too.'

I watched him as he sprayed the vile smelling stuff onto the now black oven. He frowned as he read the instructions. 'Leave... for... thirty... seconds,' he read out, slowly.

I blinked, not quite sure what to make of that. Could Reno not read very well? It wouldn't be too surprising, most people in the slums were illiterate after all. But for a Turk, the elite of Shinra, to have literacy problems? That was a weird one.

'Hey, check it out!' he exclaimed, as he ran the cloth over the surface. When it came away, the oven was gleaming. 'This stuff is awesome? You think they put mako in it?'

I rolled my eyes. 'If a Shinran company made it, then I wouldn't be surprised.'

Reno sighed, and we became awkward again, the reminder of our differences hanging in the air once again, I guess. He finished off the oven, then I made something edible for dinner. We ate in silence, then he shoved another one of his mindless DVDs in, and I went to bed. As I lay, trying to get comfy, I tried to blank out the niggling voice in my brain, that was telling me I wanted to be sitting out there with him. Annoying thing was, it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

A/N- This chapter is for Ksenia, who is obsessed with Mr Clean, and for Tim, who blew up my kitchen :-D I love you both in spite of that, and many other things. -


	7. Reno 4

Chapter Seven

Reno

Just because you're a Turk, and therefore one of the most highly trained individuals on the planet, doesn't always mean you can see danger when it's right ahead of you. I mean, no-one can really _train _you to see when someone's screwing you over, even if that person has been at your side all along, claiming loyalty, pretending they'd do anything for you...

I'm getting ahead of myself. I do that sometimes, when I'm nervous or sometimes when I'm angry. Then stuff just gets even _more _confused.

I can't pinpoint exactly when stuff started to get fucked up, because actually, it was a total mess from the beginning. Not that there's anything that could have been done. I don't particularly believe in fate, but I do believe that sometimes there's fuck all we can do to change things. Doesn't stop us from wishing to the _gods_ that we could though.

Things changed between me and Elena, slowly but surely, after the oven incident, and the whole phone call with Tseng., where he ripped into me for making a tiny mistake on a report. Truth be told, we were gonna _have_ to start getting on at some point, shoved together as we were. There's no alternative, when you're stuck on an airship with a chick, but to make friends with her, otherwise you're gonna be very bored and _very _miserable. Especially when they're one as capable of evil as Elena is.

Three days passed, and we quickly found a routine. I would sleep most of the day, whilst Elena did work for college. I would get up mid afternoon and shower, then Elena would take a bath whilst I watched a movie. Then she would make food, we'd eat, she'd go to bed. I'd 

watch a movie, then go to bed at three a.m ish. Then I would sleep most of the day, whilst etc etc. This worked fine for us, only it was pretty lonely. Not talking to anyone at all for hours on end can drive you pretty crazy, pretty quickly. So on the fourth night, I asked Elena if she wanted to watch a film with me.

She eyed me, warily. 'Not 'Mog's House',' she said, a smile _almost _flickering over her soft pink lips.

'Cross my heart and hope to die. _You_ choose the film.'

She did smile then, but it was one of pure wickedness. 'Fine. I want to watch 'Loveless.''

Inwardly I groaned. You'd have to have been living in the Mythril Mines for the last few years to not know what freakin' 'Loveless' is, but just in case you have, here's the gist of it- 'Loveless' is the biggest, most repulsive chick flick in the history of film. Truly. It's about a knight (gods save me) who rescues this damsel (gag me) and they have a relationship (i.e. do it a lot in a bunch of uber romantic, uber improbable situations), only then the knight gets called to war, and he leaves the damsel. They both promise never to love again, only of course he's lying, and he ends up marrying some rich bitch and having tons of kids all with totally stupid names, like Cloud and Zack. Years later, the knight and his wife walk past the damsel chick on the street, and she's all lonely and stuff (hence the film's title) only the knight doesn't care, 'cause he's a total cad, who never loved her anyway. It was a stage thing for years, but as if that wasn't bad enough, they had to make a freakin' movie adaptation of it.

Ugh. I shoulda known Elena would be the type to go for that crap. I bet all her upper class buddies are the types of people to name their kids after the main characters, so people can hear them in the street, cooing over little Cloud. _Ugh_.

I didn't let her see this though. I just shrugged. 'Okay. Sounds good.'

Whilst she was putting the disc in the machine, I poured two glasses of wine. She smirked when I handed one to her.

'You're not going to get drunk of this, are you?'

I stuck my tongue out at her. 'Ha ha. No. Why, scared that you will?'

She glared at me, and rose to the challenge, taking a huge gulp of her drink. She'd finished her first glass by the time the adverts had finished.

Of course, the opening credits of the movie depressed me so much that I obliterated my drink in a matter of seconds as well. I poured us a second.

'Trying to get me drunk?' asked Elena, not taking her eyes off the screen.

'Would I?' I asked, innocently.

She just smiled slightly. Huh. She may not be drunk, but the wine sure was loosening her up. That was the first smile I'd seen in three days.

Gawd. What an _awful _film. After half an hour, I was ready to kill myself. Elena, on the other hand, looked like she was in heaven. When the knight promised the damsel chick he would never love anyone else, I swear there were tears in her eyes.

'You are such a _girl_,' I teased her.

She glared at me. 'It's a moving moment,' she snapped.

I snorted. Yeah, right. The only things that's moving is the vomit.'

'Reno!' she shouted, whacking at me with one of the cushions. I grinned at her.

'Kidding. Gawd, Laney.'

'It's Elena!' she shrieked, throwing the remaining cushion at me, then hitting me with her bare hands. As she drew back, one of her nails scraped on my skin. I felt the sting, then a slight dampness where she'd cut through. We both blinked at the vivid red on my wrist. After a moment, she clapped her hand over her mouth.

'Oh, shit, I'm sorry. Fuck...' She pulled a tissue from the box on the coffee table, then took my hands, pressing the thin white material to the cut. She shook her head. 'Sorry.'

'That's okay.' I was transfixed by her golden skin against my pale hand.

She sighed. 'I didn't mean to do that.'

'S'okay. It's just a graze.'

She sighed again, moving the tissue away. My wrist had already stopped bleeding, the slight redness just a streak across otherwise clear skin. She stood up, put the tissue in the bin. When she sat down again, she poured two more glasses of wine, but turned the movie off.

'What'd you do that for?' I asked, surprised.

She shrugged. 'You're not enjoying it.'

'Yeah, but... you are.'

'I've seen it before,' she said, dismissively. 'I don't like it after he leaves, anyway.'

'No? Why not?'

She considered this for a moment. 'I like happy endings, I guess,' she said, finally.

I wasn't sure what to say to that. She didn't seem to need a reply though. We both drank more of our wine: Elena topped hers up before she'd even finished the glass.

It was uncomfortably quiet without the T.V on. I had a mouthful of the wine: the sound of me swallowing was like an aeroplane taking off in the silent room. I blushed.

I think Elena could sense my awkwardness, because she asked me 'So, where are you from?'

'Um, I was born in Gongaga. But after the reactor blew, me moved to Midgar. Below the plate. I was only a baby at the time, so I don't really know anything but Midgar.' I wasn't about to tell her that my father had been permanently damaged in the blast, and that his death three years later ended my mom off too. Or that after they died I had no-one, and so I'd grown up in an orphanage. When I'd reached eleven, the age they kick you out of places like that, I'd just lived on the streets, 'til Commander Veld, the old leader of the Turks, had found me trying to steal from a Shinran electrical goods store and, for some unknown reason, paid for me to go through Turk's training myself.

She didn't need to know any of that yet. It would just depress her probably, if she liked happy endings so much.

'How about you?' I asked.

'I was born in Icicle, but I went to high school in Costa del Sol. I'm at MU now.'

I whistled. 'You must be pretty smart then. Midgar University is big time, right?'

She shrugged. 'It's a good place,' she said. 'I worked hard to get there.'

'Good for you. I did a couple weeks at Icicle University when I was seventeen, part of training. It was really difficult.'

'Oh yeah? What kind of course was it?' She sounded genuinely interested.

I blushed. 'Well... It was stuff like, important things you'll need to say in other languages, y'know? Like, Costan and Midean. And Junon Midgarian, 'cause the dialects different there.'

She looked impressed. 'That's really cool. I didn't realise Turks did stuff like that.'

I nodded, and at that point I could have just changed the conversation, moved onto something else, whatever. But because of the wine, maybe, or perhaps just because I was really starting to _like _Elena, I found myself saying 'I had to do basic literacy stuff, as well. I, uh, I didn't learn to read and write til I was fifteen. My level wasn't high enough by Shinra standards. So... I did an intensive course in that, too.'

Elena blinked. I tried to read her expression. Did she look surprised? Disgusted? As though she pitied me? I squirmed as I waited for her to make some kind of reply. Eventually, she said 'It's a pretty awful world when someone can get to fifteen without being taught such basic life skills.'

Because I'm a total jerk who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, I found myself saying 'How do you know that it's not just 'cause I'm really dumb?'

This time she did look disgusted. 'Because you're obviously a very intelligent person, _despite_ evidence to the contrary.'

I gaped at her for a moment. 'Really?'

'What, really you're obviously intelligent? Well, yeah.' She looked surprised. 'Why'd you sound so shocked?'

'Well...' I floundered, unsure how to explain it to her. Truth was, no-one had ever called me intelligent, or smart, or clever or anything like that.I guess, to be fair to everyone else, they've never had much cause to. As Elena had pointed out, I do act like an unintelligent jerk most of the time. 'I don't know,' I managed, finally. 'Just... you seem to think I'm an asshole is all.'

'Just because you're an asshole doesn't mean you're an idiot,' she said, smirking.

'Oh, ha ha. Nice, Lena. Real nice.'

'Elena,' she corrected me, a little grin on her face. She lifted the wine bottle to top up both our glasses, but when she tipped it, we realised it was empty. Elena blinked. 'We finished the bottle?'

I shrugged. 'There's tons more in the cupboard.'

She blinked. 'Oh.' She went over to the kitchen, a little unsteady on her feet. I smiled at her back, thinking how endearing she was when she let her guard down.

When she'd managed to successfully uncork the bottle, she did top us up, filling both glasses a little higher than she'd made them last time.

'So, Turk.' She moved slightly on the couch, so she was facing me. I couldn't help but notice the way her golden blonde hair caught the light, or how her thick black eyelashes sent charcoal shadows across her cheekbones. I wanted badly to touch her, suddenly, but it didn't seem like a good idea, so I didn't. I just waited for her to continue what she was saying.

'You enjoy your job?'

We were getting into tricky territory, talking about Shinra. As glad as I was that Elena was acting like a normal human being, at least while she was drunk, I wasn't entirely sure it was a conversation we should be having.

'Who truly enjoys their job?' I said, trying to be as vague as possible.

Elena examined me closely. 'We're talking about you though. Do you like what you do?'

'I... It's all I've ever done. I dunno. I like it fine, I guess.'

'You ever wanted to be anything else?' She asked this like she was genuinely interested, not like she was going to have a massive blow out at me if I said 'No, I've always wanted to be a killer for hire.' Not that that's what we do. Not even slightly. We kidnap and torture, too.

The sad truth is, I _do _like my job. And even if there was maybe a time when I thought I could do something else... well. After a while, I just got so comfortable being a Turk, that I forgot about any of those dreams. My dream now is just to be the best Turk I can be.

'Not really,' I answered, honestly. 'How about you? What do you wanna be?'

Elena shrugged, stretching languidly over her half of the sofa. I caught the scent of her perfume: it was fresh and clean, like linen, or something.

'For a while I wanted to be a translator. My father arranged work for me, through Shinra, but I wouldn't do it.'

I frowned. 'That seems a little dumb. I mean, it's all work experience, right?'

She gave me a look like I was dirt.' I won't whore myself for Shinra. Not that you'd understand, that is.'

I was warming to Elena, but I wouldn't take this. I didn't care how pretty she was, or that she was a little drunk- I wouldn't have her insult me, and my choices.

'Not everyone is born with the advantages you had, Elena. I know the schooling system in Costa- musta set Daddy back a mill or so every year, right? You'd accept Shinra's money for that, of course. And who's paying you through college?' She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. 'Yeah, yeah. You probably had a job in a skeezy little bar, just s you could say you were working for it, but really, whose gil are you riding on, huh El?'

She flushed, and I knew I'd hit the nail on the head. A bit more kindly, I said 'It's great to have principles, Elena, but no-one'll ever listen to you unless you stick to 'em.'

She was silent, and for a moment, I was worried she was really gonna lay into me, But she just sighed.

'I know,' she said, quietly.

I blinked. 'You do?'

She sighed. 'I keep telling myself that one day I'll give my father back every gil he's ever spent on me, the debt will be settled and I'll finally be practising what I preach... Until then... He doesn't know how much I hate Shinra, you know? I can't tell him, because if people knew what a hypocrite I was... they'd hate me as much as you do.' She sounded close to tears.

I gaped at her. 'Elena- I don't hate you at all. Why would you think that?'

'I know what I am, Reno. A spoilt little brat, a trust fund activist...'

'You are who you are,' I said, shrugging. 'Just like I'm a Turk, you're rich. You can't change that.'

She looked at me suddenly, right into my eyes, and my stomach jumped a bit. God, she was so beautiful... Her skin was soft and dewy, her cheeks just slightly pink, soft strands of hair hanging over her face... Her eyes were huge and brown, and sadder than I'd noticed before. Funny, growing up in the slums, you never stop to consider that those you envy, the rich ones with cars and houses and money to burn, might be just as unhappy as you.

'I wish things could have been different,' she said, softly.

Gazing into those eyes, I kept forgetting to breathe. 'Eh?' I managed to choke out.

'I wish we could have met differently. Like, in a bar, or just on the street. I wouldn't have had to be me, you wouldn't have had to be you... We could have been anyone. We could have been friends.'

I felt a stab of sadness at that, because it was true. We might be getting on all right at the moment, but we could never truly be friends. And anyway, the second we stepped off this ship...

'Guess it's fate,' I said, even though I don't believe in all that stuff. 'Maybe we weren't supposed to meet like that.'

Elena was still staring at me. 'A second ago,' she began hesitantly. 'You called me El.'

I smiled a bit. 'Sorry, _Elena_,' I enunciated, teasingly.

'N,no.' She shook her head. 'I... no-one's ever called me that before. Tons of people call me Laney, and I don't think my mom's _ever _called me anything but Lena, but... no-one's ever called me El.'

'It's the nicest shortening, I think,' I told her. 'You like it?'

She smiled at me. 'Yeah, I do.'

We sat there for a minute, just kinda smiling at one another. I'm not sure who moved first, really- if she leaned up to me, or if I came down to her. All I knew was that her lips were on mine, and without wishing to sound soppy, nothing had ever felt better. What I didn't know, of course, was that it was all gonna go downhill from here, and pretty swiftly, too.

A/N- Uh oh, stuff's about to get a little bit difficult for our favorite Turks... Thanks to V for helping me think up a plot for Loveless- may I just point out, I have no clue what it was 

intended to be about by the guys who made the game as, sadly, I am not one of them. As this fic is AU, I figure it doesn't really matter too much though. Oh, and this is finished now, so I'll post it in the next couple of days. Please review XD


	8. Elena 4

Chapter Eight

Elena

His lips were softer than I'd thought they would be, and warm. His fingertips brushed my hair from my face, leaving tingling trails in their wake. I wanted him to touch me, to bite my skin and pull my clothes from my body. I wanted to lick him, to taste him and tease him, to see what noises I could illicit. I wanted _him_...

He pulled back. I practically whimpered, not wanting him to be away from me. Maybe it was the wine: maybe it was the fact that, in an another life, I could have really fallen for Reno. I don't know. Whatever it was, it was strong.

'Elena,' he sounded as uncertain as I felt. 'I don't think-'

I leaned over and kissed him,not giving him a chance to say anymore. Everything about this felt so good- his strong fingers on my back, his tongue gently touching mine. I wanted to submit, to just go by emotion for once, rather than having to think everything through so carefully. I just wanted to _live_.

Reno pulled away again, but this time it was only to move so we were in a more comfortable position. I realised, with something of a jolt, that this wasn't new to Reno. He'd kissed girls like this before, removed their clothes, touched them like this before... Suddenly, I felt rather young.

He must have sensed my discomfort. I felt him pull back again.

'Elena...'

'I'm a virgin,' I blurted out.

He blinked. 'Um. Okay.'

I closed my eyes for a moment. 'I'm not... assuming that we're gonna have sex. I just... I thought you should know.' I waited miserably for his response.

'But you hate me,' he said, finally.

I stared at him in surprise. 'I don't,' I said, realising as I spoke that this was true. 'I don't... like the Turks. But... I don't hate you.' I bit my lip. 'I don't hate you at all.'

Reno sighed. 'Fuck, Elena...' he trailed off, sighing again. 'Fuck,' he repeated.

I felt stupid and embarrassed and like a child. Reno wasn't looking at me now, he was staring at the coffee table. One of my legs was still flung over his, and my hand was still on his thin hip.I moved away from him. He looked up at me.

'Elena, I... This is a job, y'know?'

Hurt, so vivid you could almost hold it, flashed through me. 'I'm... just a job?'

He bit his lip. 'That's what you were, at first...' He trailed off, a wretched look on his face. 'But it's all changed now, hasn't it.' His words weren't a question.

I didn't know if it had changed. I didn't know anything. 'What am I?'

He gave me a helpless look. 'I don't know,' he mumbled.

We sat in silence. Reno was staring at the table, I was staring at the wall. I didn't know what to say to him, what to do. I couldn't kiss him again, as much as I wanted to, but nor could I leave the couch. We just sat like that.

'You're a friend,' said Reno, so quietly I thought I'd misheard him.

'Huh?' I gazed at him. 'A... a friend?'

Reno sighed and nodded. 'Y,yeah.' I saw a flash of something that might be sadness in his eyes. 'I sometimes feel like I don't got many of them,' he said, slum talk slipping into his speech for a moment.

Looking at Reno's face, I felt unspeakably sad. Did Reno know what it was to have fallen for someone, to want to be with them? Even in my own head, I was aware how patronising I sounded- poor little slum boy, incapable of love. But wasn't this the planet we lived on? How many people were there out there, who had been raised under the shadow of Shinra's plate, unloved themselves. Why should Reno know what this feeling was? Come to think of it, though, why should I? When had I ever been in love?

I slumped slightly, feeling deflated. Reno was silent next to me. We both jumped when the phone rang.

Reno answered it. 'Hey, Cissnei.' His voice sounded flat- I wondered if Cissnei would hear that, if she'd ask him what was wrong.

_What is wrong?_

'No, I can talk. Yeah I'm fine, tired is all. Gawd, I don't know where we are. In the air?' He rolled his eyes, smiling slightly, and I felt unjustly jealous that she could make him smile where I just made him unhappy.

I stood up, and headed to the door. I was tired; it was time for bed, and then we could talk in the morning. This was just all getting too much.

Reno cupped his handover the mouthpiece. 'Where are you going?' he whispered.

'Bed. I'm tired.'

His face fell. 'Oh. Well, g'night, I guess.'

I nodded. 'Goodnight, Reno.'

I lay in bed, unable to sleep, for a long time. I hadn't heard Reno's bedroom door open, so I wondered if he was still in the living room. I realised I was never going to sleep with all these thoughts whirling around, so I crept into the corridor.

The living room door was nearly shut, but it was open just enough that I could clearly hear Reno's voice. He was still on the phone? They must have been talking for nearly an hour.

_Maybe they are more than friends. How do I know he wasn't lying to me about that?_

The sudden suspicious thought in my head sent little jolts through me, but it was _true._When it came to it, how much did I know about Reno? I knew that he could be sweet and funny, and that when he kissed me, it made my whole body shiver with pleasure. But I also knew that he'd had a difficult life, that he didn't have much experience with love or even friendship, even if he knew sex well enough, that at heart he was sad and lonely and untrusting. I also knew that he was a Turk... Shinra.

_Everything I hate... But I don't hate you._

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. It wasn't as good as the time that bird fell outta the air and landed on Rude's head, though, right?' In the living room, Reno laughed. He and Cissnei were gossiping, I realised, talking, laughing...

_Is he enjoying hearing her voice? Are they just waiting, biding their time 'til theycan see each other again?_

I wondered if he felt guilty, talking to her when he'd just been kissing me. Then I realised that my mind was going round in circles- I didn't even know for sure, after all, that there was anything between them.

As I heard Reno say goodbye, and then hang up, I realised I was going to have to swallow my apprehension, and go in there. The only way this would be sorted would be if we talked.

And then just as I was thinking this, a huge shudder went through the whole ship, and we started to plummet. I staggered through the door, clutching out for Reno's hands and sobbing in fear. He pulled me to him, then we stood in the doorway.

_It's like being in an earthquake. Stand under the strongest part of the structure._

The airship bounced, like something was smacking into it, and I screamed. Reno's arms tightened round my waist.

'It's gonna be okay,' he murmured into my ear. 'It's gonna be okay, El.' But I could tell he was frightened, because he pressed a kiss to the side of my head.

_He's kissing me goodbye,_ I realised, as the ground rushed to meet us.

A/N- this chapter is dedicated to evenstarfictionfan for being an awesome reviewer, and also to aloha.laney, pangpond, needleholehalo, sparkreno and monstre cretin


	9. Reno 5

Chapter Nine

Reno

I blinked, struggling to clear my vision. One second I'd been standing, the next...

The airship. Holy hell, what had happened?

A glance in the direction of the window told me we were still in the air, and moving quite smoothly. I heard a whimper beside me.

'El, you okay?'

She lifted her head. 'Reno?'

Her face was streaked with tears. I bit my lip, moving closer to her. 'Are you hurt?' I asked her.

'I, I don't think so.' She hauled herself into a sitting position, wincing slightly. 'My arm hurts, but I think I just knocked it as I fell.' She shook her head as though trying to clear it. 'What happened? One moment we were crashing...'

'I... I don't know.' I took in a sharp breath. 'Shit, Lena, your face is bleeding.' I touched the graze on her cheekbone, very gently. 'Don't think it's too deep.'

'Reno... What happened?' she asked again.

'I don't know,' I told her, again. I dragged myself to my feet, wincing at the nausea that came over me. Elena looked alarmed.

'Reno?' She sounded young and frightened.

'I'm fine. Dizzy.' I made my way to the door of the room, looked out into the corridor. The huge steel door that divided our quarters from Cid's was still shut. I was surprised: I would have thought our tea lovin' pilot would have come straight through to tell us what had happened. Which either meant we were still in danger, and so he couldn't leave the controls... Or that someone wasn't _letting _him leave.

The skin on the back of my neck prickled. I went quickly into my room, grabbing my oh so awesome weapon, my nightstick. I charged it up, feeling the familiar thrill go up my arm. Electromagnetic weapons are kind of a bitch- they shock you all the time, they're hard to use, and virtually impossible to master, but when you do it right and it all comes together, it's awesome. People ask me why I bother using such an awkward weapon, but it's just so cool. And I'm so _good_ at it too. There's very few things I can genuinely say that I'm good at, but using my EMR is one of them. Maybe even the only one.

Just as I was moving toward the door it burst open.

'Cid!'

'Shit, Turk, whatcha wavin' that sticky thing at me for?' Cid was glowering at me. Like, really pissed off glowering at me.

'I was worried. After the big bang an' all. What was that?'

He frowned. 'Minor technical problem. We're gonna gave to land for a few hours. Call Tseng, he'll explain.'

'Wa-i-i-t. We're gonna land? The whole point of this is to keep Elena in tha air, isn't it?'

Cid just shrugged and started back towards the engine room. 'You wanna land, or you wanna crash? Choice is yours.'

I glared after him, then went back to Elena. She was in the kitchen, dabbing at the slash on her face with a wet cloth. She looked up anxiously when I came in.

'I need to ring Tseng. Highwind was saying some nutty shit about landing.' I picked up the phone, hitting the speed dial. Cissnei answered after a couple of moments, even though I'd called Tseng's number.

'What's this stuff about us landing? I thought my job was to look after her up here? Why put us on a ship with technical problems?'

I could practically _hear _Cissnei rolling her eyes. 'Reno, there were some unforeseen circumstances- i.e the plane nearly crashing- which have led us to come to the decision that you need to be grounded for a few hours.'

I know Cissnei- I know Cissnei real well. 'There's something else, isn't there.'

She sighed. 'I'm passing you over to Tseng.'

A couple of moments later, Tseng's voice came onto the line. 'Reno. Calm down.'

'I am calm. I'm just a little freaked at the moment. Nearly dying'll do that to ya, y'know?'

'It's unfortunate. But there's nothing we could have done. These things happen.'

'So where's the hitch?' I demanded. Elena blinked at me, looking nervous.

I heard Tseng sigh. 'It's Natalia Silva's birthday.'

'Who?'

'Elena's mother. They're having a small party. They want Elena there.'

'No. No way. It's not fucking safe!'

Elena was starting to look a bit frightened. Looking out the window, I saw the ship was starting it's descent into Junon.

'The area is secure. It'll be an hour tops.' There was a definite note in Tseng's voice.

'Who's accompanying?' I asked, pouting. Elena was looking royally confused now.

'You, Cissnei and myself.'

'Great, the gang reunited,' I said, sarcastically. I sighed. 'Well, we're nearly landing. I take it we'll see you soon then.'

'Safe landing, Reno.'

I hung up, then turned to Elena. 'We're landing at Junon for a few hours so the plane can be checked.'

'What were you saying about being accompanied?' she asked, looking suspicious.

'Umm... Well, you know how it's your mom's birthday today?'

She clapped a hand over her mouth. 'Shit. I forgot.' She shook her head. 'Completely forgot.'

'Yeah, well I wouldn't worry. You, me Cissnei and Tseng are going to her party.'

Elena gaped at me. I had to bite back a laugh. She looked astonished. 'We are what?' she asked.

'We're going to your mom's party,' I repeated.

'But... I thought...'

'Yeah, me too. Don't worry, it'll be fine. You're safe with me.'

She gave me an odd look. 'Am I?'

I hadden a feeling she suddenly was talking about something rather different to the predicament that had put us in this situation in the first place. In fact, I knew it- I could still taste our kiss.

'You're safe with me,' I repeated.

She nodded. 'Thank you.'

We sat, awkwardly quiet, until the landing. Then we both stood up.

'Do we leave our stuff on here?' she asked. 'Like, suitcases and stuff.'

'I guess so.'

A look of anxious sadness suddenly passed over Elena's face. 'You didn't bring that much, did you.' She looked suddenly on the verge of tears.

I didn't know what to say to that. I just stood, feeling weird and helpless. After a moment, Elena left the kitchen. She didn't turn back to look or me, or say any more. As I walked into 

the hallway, I heard her greeting Tseng. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was smiling.

Cissnei gave me a big hug when I got off the plane, which made me highly uncomfortable. I'm not big on physical stuff, though you'd never guess that from what I was doing with Elena half an hour before. I mean more like... hugs, stuff like that. I dunno, I never got hugs when I was a kid. That sounds depressing, doesn't it? I guess it is, kinda. I don't care, really.

Elena was talking to Tseng and some woman who was holding a garment bag. Elena didn't look too pleased at whatever the woman was saying, but she took the bag off of her anyway. I realised suddenly that Cissnei was wearing a lovely blue dress, and Tseng was wearing a tux. When he and the random woman saw me, they nodded at one another, then descended upon me like a swarm of locusts or something.

Half an hour later, I was in a tux, hair brushed, feet wrapped in six hundred gil shoes. Me, Cissnei and Tseng were waiting for Princess Lena to get the hell ready.

I was starting to feel really and truly cranky. Because we were so messed up time-wise, Elena and I had managed to miss an entire night. Also, on the ship we'd been drinking, and I don't know about her, but I was feeling pretty hungover.

I was also starting to get kind of a sketchy feeling about this whole thing. I mean, I knew the party must be legit, because I know Tseng and Cissnei- they wouldn't willingly put someones life in danger. How_ever_, I didn't totally trust that something... icky wasn't going on here. I just couldn't work out where, and it scared me.

I was twiddling my thumbs, feeling bored and pissed off, when the door opened. The first thing I saw was Elena's face, in more make-up than I'd seen her wear before, looking like she wanted to shoot someone. Next, I saw her dress.

It wasn't particularly fancy, though I knew it must have cost an arm and a leg. It was pink, but not bright and garish. It made her skin look like honey... The dress was made of what I assume was silk, and it fell perfectly down her body. It made her look older and younger at the same time, beautiful and feminine, but fun and innocent too. Her hair was brushed off her face, so you could really see her eyes. When she caught me staring at her, she rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, I know. I look like a freaking birthday cake. You know, I almost hope I do get assassinated, just so I never have to wear shit like this again.'

Cissnei was giving me an odd look. 'Maybe Tseng should accompany Elena in,' she suggested. 'After all, Reno's hair might clash with her dress.'

I glared at her, but Tseng nodded and offered his arm to Elena. She blushed just a tiny bit, then slid her hand through his elbow, smiling at him. When they were out the door, Cissnei turned to me.

'Shall we?'

'What was all that about?' I asked, a whining tone in my voice.

Cissnei shrugged. 'Nothing.' But she threw me a worried look. 'Reno, you're not getting too attached to her, are you?'

I blinked. 'To Elena? No, of course not.'

'It's just... the way you looked at her...'

I hate having red hair. You expect to blush more than other people, sure, 'cause your skin is paler. But unlike other people, whose blushes are confined to their cheeks, my whole face goes the same color as my hair. And I am on the _bright_ end of the redheaded spectrum.

'She's a nice girl. I'm fond of her. I want to make sure she's safe. That's all.'

Cissnei couldn't say anymore, because we were at the door of the function room. So she just sighed. 'Be careful, Reno.'

Because of the Elena situation, the party couldn't just be held anywhere, so Silva had hired out part of the Junon military base, probably the most secure Shinra area in the world. Only, a military base anywhere is gonna be pretty ugly. And so it had been incredibly elaborately decorated- flowers, and paintings and these amazing chandeliers had been placed everywhere, and all these trestle tables were at one end of the room. There was a dancefloor as well, with a string quartet. I could see there was a piano, too. It was all very tastefully done though, even though there were a lot of little embellishments, it wasn't too much at all. You would never guess you were in this huge fortified steel building. They'd even got a balcony, with vines twisted round the fence.

Tseng and Elena were standing with General Silva and his wife, who still looked awful even though she was wearing a nice dress and she'd had her hair and make-up all done. Elena really truly looked nothing like her- she's small and blonde and delicate, whereas her mom is nearly the same height as me, and built like a truck, with brown hair. I sighed, seeing the way Silva was beaming at Tseng, and the way Elena's mom kept practically winking at her. Yeah, there was gonna be some matchmaking tonight.

Just as I was about to go and try to locate the bar, Elena saw me and smiled. 'Reno. Come over here.'

So I wandered over. 'Hey, Elena. Hello General Silva, Mrs Silva.'

Both just gave me blank looks. Silva looked at Elena. 'Who is this?'

Elena rolled her eyes. 'This is Reno. The Turk who's been on the ship with me?'

'Oh.' Yeah, he still looked blank as ever.

Some guy was signalling Tseng. 'I need to go and speak with an associate. General Silva, we can talk later about yesterday's discovery.'

Silva nodded. 'Yes. Find me later.'

Tseng nodded at me and Elena, then was gone. We stood a bit awkwardly for a moment, then the Silva's went right on like I wasn't there.

'Elena, you haven't been in contact at all,' said her mom, in a whiny voice. 'Why haven't you called?'

Elena snorted. 'What about when I was at school in Costa. You never rang me then.'

'There's a difference,' said Silva, a bit coldly. 'You were at a military establishment, then. It's not appropriate to receive telephone calls.'

I blinked in astonishment. Elena had gone to military school? She gave me a look that very clearly said Shut Up. I just raised an eyebrow.

Mrs Silva sighed, looking nostalgic. 'Oh, Elena. The academy spoke of you with such high regard. We thought you would end up working for Shinra, like your father...'

'Midgar University is the best school in the world!' said Elena, looking pink with anger. 'Aren't you proud of that?'

'We thought you'd end up working in Public Safety, with Reeve Tuesti. You know that he told your father you'd always be accepted there, in a second. Or even in the Weapon's Development Department. Scarlet may be vulgar and rather a pill, but look how highly regarded she is.'

'You could even have been a Turk, like Tseng,' added General Silva. Huh, so I _wasn't _a Turk as well? 'It requires a high level of training, but look at how the academy spoke of your sniper skills. They recommended you to Heidegger, you know? For graduates of the academy, the Turk training course only takes a year.'

'But what are you doing instead? Learning how to speak a dying language. You know as well as I do that in five years Costan will be spoken by only around half a million people. Midgarian will be spoken by two billion people, Midean by sixty million, Nibel by fifty million... Costan is useless. Why are you wasting your time?' Mrs Silva was bright red. I saw, with horror, that a shining bead of sweat was working its way down her cheek, towards her mouth.

'I already speak Midgarian,' said Elena. 'And when I was at the academy, I got the chance to go outside of the city, into _real _Costa. Forget the Sol part. There's a culture there, one that is being forgotten because of people like _you_.'

Elena's dad sighed. 'This isn't really the place, is it? Your mother and I have to meet with our guests. Please, behave yourself tonight, Elena.' He spoke the last part like he was talking to a 

child, or someone with developmental problems. I thought Elena was gonna swing at him, so I grabbed her hand.

'Lena, have you been properly introduced to Cissnei? Excuse me General Silva, Cissnei is a Turk. She might be able to talk to Elena about training opportunities.'

He gave me a look that was almost pleasant, but his face very quickly faded into a cold mask once again. 'Very well. Please, remember what we've said, Elena.' And then they were gone, off into the crowd.

I pulled Elena gently towards Cissnei. 'Cissnei, Elena. Elena, this is Cissnei.'

The two women greeted each other, but I noticed slightly uncomfortably, that the look Cissnei was giving Elena was far from friendly. That was a bit weird: usually, she's the nicest person in the world. Truly, Elena seems far more capable of being rude and surly than my fellow Turk.

Tseng came over, and asked Elena if she wanted a drink, then took her over to the bar, I think to quiz her about the standard of care she was getting from me. Huh. I had been _more _than nice to her, these last couple nights especially.

Cissnei was staring at me, this totally bizarre exprssion on her face. I rolled my eyes.

'What?'

She shook her head. 'Elena is a client, Reno. She is also young, naive and completely anti-Shinra.'

I frowned. 'She's not _just_ a client. And she's got issues with Shinra, but-'

Cissnei cut me off. 'We've been hired to protect her, to eradicate the threat that is posed against her. But I don't trust her, Reno. I don't trust her at all. And I think you need to be damn careful before you just fall in love with her.'

I glared at Cissnei. 'Fuck you. Why are you making all these assumptions? And Elena's not a threat!' I wouldn't usually snap at Cissnei, but man did my head hurt, and I was super tired. I wasn't really up for a lecture, but it looked like she was gonna give me one.

She looked at me like I was stupid. 'Has it never occured to you,' she said, very slowly, 'That Elena could very well be associated with all the anti-Shinra groups that are supposedly targeting her?'

'The only traitor here,' I hissed, starting to walk away, 'is you.'

Overdramatic, maybe. But huh. If only I'd known...

A/N- Another quite long chapter. This one is gonna be longer for sure than anything I've done before- So far I've written fifteen chapters, and it's finished at that, but I'm not sure I'm happy with 

it, so revisions will be done before I post them, though it'll still be up within the next three or so days. Please review!


	10. Elena 5

Chapter Ten

Elena

At the bar, I grabbed a vodka for Reno, figuring he might need something to take the edge off his hangover. He was talking to Cissnei, when suddenly he turned and walked away from her, looking pissed as hell. I went over to him, concerned.

'Reno? What happened?'

He looked surprised to see me, but then he forced a smile. 'Nothing. Old argument.' He looked at the drinks in my hands, arching an eyebrow. 'Looking to get sauced tonight, hmm El?'

I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh. 'No. This one,' I thrust a glass into his hand, 'is for you.'

He smiled. 'Thanks.' He drained most of the drink in one go.

'Looking to get sauced tonight, hmm?' I teased.

He stuck his tongue out at me. 'Ha ha. What does happen at these things though?'

I blinked at him. 'You've never been to one?'

He flushed slightly. 'Nope. Don't run in high circles like you, El.'

My stomach twisted with pleasure when he called me El. I smiled at him. 'Well. There's dancing, and drinking, but no-one gets _drunk_, because that would be unsightly.'

'Dancing?' he asked, looking horrified.

'Yup. And by escorting me here, you have promised me a dance.'

'I didn't actually escort you,' he pointed out, looking triumphant. 'Tseng did.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Yes, well I choose you to be my escort. So there.'

Reno glared at me. 'Elena. I am going to have to be drunk in order to dance with you, contravening the rules and regulations of the evening.'

'No, you won't,' I argued. I decided to try other tactics. 'Please dance with me,' I begged, pouting innocently at him.

He sighed, looking defeated. 'Fine. But later.'

I beamed at him. 'Great. I'll hold you to that.' Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my best friend, Rosa. 'Oh! My friend's here. I should go see her. You want to meet her?'

Reno started to say yes, but then he shook his head. 'Tseng wants me for something. He keeps giving me this desperate look. I should go help him out.'

'Okay.' I felt weirdly disappointed that I wouldn't get to show him off to Rosa. It was weird, but I felt a little annoyed at him too. With a jolt, I realised that I was thinking about him like he was my boyfriend, getting pissed off that he was spending the party with his friends instead of me. 'I'll find you in a bit.'

He nodded, and we parted ways.

A little later, after Rosa and I had caught up, I found myself scanning the room for Reno. I hadn't told my best friend about how I'd kissed him, the previous night, but I think she guessed. She nudged me, deep in the ribs.

'The hot redhead you're stranded with is over there, getting chatted up by the old dude.'

I looked to where she was pointing. Reno had been cornered by an elderly man, whom I recognised as my father's friend James Randolph, a former Soldier. He was a mean old guy, actually. I wasn't surprised Reno didn't look thrilled at talking to him.

'I better go rescue him,' I told Rosa.

She nodded, distractedly, then turned to me. 'Listen, can you give this Reno my number?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Sure.'

As I got close to Randolph and Reno, it became clear that Reno was very uncomfortable. He kept scratching his wrist and wincing slightly. I could hear Randolph's booming voice, talking about the slums. When he mentioned ritual scarring, I realised he was giving out to Reno about the deep red lines that curved over his cheekbones. I'd noticed them before, and realised they probably were a product of slum life, but I'd really never thought about it. Randolph clearly had.

'Street children should be culled,' he was telling Reno, whose cheeks were bright red. 'Destroyed like the animals they are.'

I stepped up to them. 'Hello General Randolph. How are you?'

Randolph has always liked me, I think because I'm petite and blonde. He kissed me on either cheek, patting my shoulder. He smelled vaguely of cigarettes, mostly of gin.

'Elena Silva, darling girl. And how are you?'

'I'm fine, thank you, General Randolph.' I slid my fingers around Reno's: his hand felt cold and clammy. Randolph blinked. 'You've met Reno then, General Randolph?'

'Have you, Elena?' He sounded astonished, staring at our hands.

'Of course. Reno's one of my very dearest friends,' I said, smiling at him.

Randolph frowned. 'I see. If I may ask, how did you meet each other?'

I squeezed Reno's hands, indicating I should answer. 'We met through another friend- Alexander.'

Randolph looked as though he would choke on his gin. 'Alexander Heidegger?'

I nodded. 'He and Reno are very close.' Reno squeezed my hand, and I saw he was trying not to smile.

General Randolph was just staring at us. 'Elena, does your father know that you are dating?' he asked finally.

'Dating?' Reno squeaked. He looked at me in alarm.

Very calmly, I said 'What I do in my spare time is none of daddy's business. If you will excuse us, General Randolph, this piece of music is one of my favorites, and Reno has promised me a dance.'

I smiled dazzlingly at Randolph, then grabbed Reno and dragged him onto the dancefloor.

'I can't dance!' he hissed, sounding panicked.

'Easy peasy,' I told him. 'Your hand on my waist, my hand on your shoulder, our other hands together. There's no set dance, just keep time and try not to step on my feet.'

Reno's face was the same shade as his hair. 'Elena!'

'It's this or talk to Randolph some more. Come on, you'll be fine.'

Actually, he really was telling the truth when he said he couldn't dance. For someone so tall, with such long, lean limbs, he was completely graceless. He moved like a puppet with broken strings, jerky and clumsy. I tried to guide him, but he was too stiff, too self-conscious. Eventually, I said 'You wanna get some air?'

He just nodded. I squeezed his hands and led him to one of the balconies. It was nearly empty.

Reno was quiet as I gazed out over the sea. After a while, I turned to him.

'General Randolph is a total asshole. Seriously, everyone hates him except my father, and he's an asshole too.'

Reno still didn't say anything. So I kept on.

'All that stuff he was saying... it's crap, you know? Total crap. No-one-'

He cut me off. 'They're not slum scars.'

'O-oh.' I blinked at him. 'Uh, then what are they?'

Reno shrugged. 'Got 'em when I first became a Turk. They chucked me in at the deep end, gave me a mission I wasn't ready for, and I got captured. The people who got me gave me these. All they symbolise is that Shinra fucked up a bit.'

'Oh.' I shook my head. 'Wow, Randolph really is dumb.'

Reno smiled slightly. 'I don't like the instant assumption much, if I'm honest. But... it's okay, you know? There'll always be people like him.'

I nodded. 'Yeah. There will.'

'Elena?'

A voice behind me made me jump. Cissnei was standing in the doorway.

'Oh. Um, hi.' I felt a little shy talking to her. We hadn't properly met.

'The airship is ready. For security reasons, the two of you had best get going.'

Reno didn't acknowledge her, just looked at me. 'Ready?'

I nodded. 'Yep. Ready.'

We headed back into the ballroom. I could see my parents, but I had no intention of speaking to them. I could also see Tseng, looking very serious, talking to a man whose face I couldn't see.

'Look, there's Teg,' I pointed out one of Reno's colleagues to him, one of the other Turks. He was with Cid, who looked pretty stressed.

Reno looked surprised. 'How do you know Teg?'

I blinked. 'I saw him earlier, when I was with Tseng.'

'Oh. Is Rude around then?'

I shrugged. 'Don't think so.'

Cissnei accompanied us to the ship. I could see Cid and three other men boarding. Teg was with them: he seemed to be explaining something.

'One of the men is different,' I pointed out to Reno.

He barely looked at them. 'Yeah, but Teg's with them.' This seemed to be enough of a reassurance to him, so I just shrugged. We boarded, without fanfare, and within fifteen minutes, we were rising again. I didn't fail to notice that Reno and Cissnei didn't say goodbye to one another.

A/N- Next chapter: things start to go very, _very _wrong... Please review XD


	11. Reno 6

Chapter Eleven

Reno

And so here we were, back on our little airship. When we were onboard, Elena got changed out of her dress and I got changed out of my tux, then she made us both tea. I was totally exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to just go to bed, but Elena seemed pretty awake so I stayed up to keep her company. Eventually, she got tired too, and we went to bed. Alone, I might add.

I woke up pretty early the next day. When I looked out the window, I saw to my surprise that we were over Icicle. As someone who knows a little bit about flying, that seemed weird to me, because of the difference in air pressure in these cold, mountainous places. To me, it would have seemed more sensible to go around over Mideel and Gongaga again, but obviously Cid and the crew had different ideas. Oh well. They were the experts, I supposed.

I headed into the kitchen and turned the kettle on. Elena was not up yet, which was kind of a surprise. I figured I'd make her a coffee, as that's one of the few culinary skills I have. I was just locating the sugar when the door opened, and Elena came in.

She seemed surprised to see me. 'You're up? I thought you were still in bed?'

'Nope. Here.' I handed her a mug. She looked at it, a bit suspiciously. I rolled my eyes. 'It's coffee, El.'

'Thanks.' She took a sip. 'It's good!' She sounded shocked.

I stuck my tongue out at her. 'I have unchartered depths. Sleep well?'

She nodded. 'Yeah. It got a little bumpy earlier though.'

'I didn't notice. It's probably the atmosphere- I don't think it's anything to worry about.'

'Oh, okay.' She picked up her mug of coffee and went to sit on the couch. I noticed she didn't look terribly reassured though.

We spent the rest of the morning just kind of hanging around the living room, watching movies and crap like that. At half twelve, Elena offered to cook lunch. I decided to take a shower whilst she did so.

Something was bothering me a bit, though I couldn't for the life of me put my finger on what it was. The general sense of unease that I'd had since the fault that had nearly made us crash seemed to have solidified into a constant gnawing at my stomach. Something had made it worse though...

It wasn't til I was dressing again that I realised what part of my icky feeling was coming from, and that was my little spat with Cissnei. We've been friends a while, and we'd never argued like that before. I didn't like feeling mad at her, and knowing that she was mad at me. I pulled on a dress shirt and headed to the living room, wanting to ring her.

Elena had made some kind of stew that was bubbling on the stove. She smiled at me as I came in.

'Hey. I'm just gonna ring Cissnei,' I told her, lifting the receiver. Huh. That was weird. No dialling tone. 'Phone's out,' I announced.

Elena blinked. 'It is?' She looked nervous suddenly. 'You don't think there's some kind of technical fault?'

I shook my head. 'Nah. It's probably the same thing that's making the ship bump around a lot- you know, mountain atmosphere.'

She nodded, but I could see she was still a bit frightened. 'You wanna open one of the bottles of wine?' I asked her. Maybe it was irresponsible, encouraging her to get sloshed so she'd forget she was afraid, but whatever. What else was there to do on this ship?

She grinned. 'Sure. I'll do that now.'

I flopped on the couch. A moment later, Elena placed a glass into my hand. I smiled at her. 'Thanks.'

She bit her lip. I examined her face. 'Lena, don't worry. They woudn't have sent us up in a ship that was unsafe.' I took a sip of wine. 'It'll be fine.'

Elena closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and nodded. 'You're right,' she said, softly. She turned to go back to the oven, and I saw a flash of tears in her eyes. I was about to say something to her, maybe stand and give her a hug or some shit like that, but I felt so _ill _suddenly.

'El,Elena?' I stammered out. She looked at me, alarmed.

'Reno?' She came and knelt in front of me. 'Jesus, you're sweating, but your skin is freezing!'

'Elena.. th-the wine,' I managed to choke out. 'I th-think it was... pois-poisoned.' My eyes started to drift shut. I could hear Elena shrieking, yelling for Cid, for someone to just come and _help._ It's funny though, as I fell unconscious, the last thing I saw was the phone line that was attached to a box on the wall. The wire had been cut. My last thought, as I felt Elena's hands on my face, was totally bizarre, and a really ridiculous thing to think after you've been drugged, but hey: when have I ever been normal? As everything went black, it struck me what else had been making me uncomfortable- Elena had said Tseng had introduced her to Teg, when they'd first gone in. But he couldn't have, because I distinctly remembered seeing Teg, standing by the airship, talking to the technicians, when it was only me and Cissnei left outside. So that was just one of the many things Elena had lied to me about.

My world went black.

Voices, then silence. Loud banging, then soft scratching, like nails against a heavy wooden door.I kept waking up, then falling straight back to sickly unconsciousness. I listened out for her voice, her husky, lovely, traiterous voice, but all I heard was Teg. He was laughing.

Elena was sitting in front of me, her knees drawn to her chest. When I looked at her, she just sighed and bit her lip.

'My head hurts,' I told her.

She nodded. 'You hit it on the floor when we put you in here.'

'You, Teg, and...?'

She shifted uncomfortably. 'Jack Graham. My friend Rosa's brother.'

'Oh.' I nodded. 'I take it you met Teg through the military academy. He went there as well, didn't he.'

She wouldn't meet my eye. 'He was in the same class as Jack.'

Something occured to me. 'Cid?'

'He's in a different room. He's still alive.'

'Are you gonna torture me for information?' I asked her, trying to sound matter-of-fact.

Teras filled Elena's eyes. 'I didn't think I'd fall for you,' she whispered.

My stomach felt like my heart was melting down into it, hot and sick. I tried to keep my face blank, indifferent. 'I was just trying to _fuck_ you,' I told her.

Elena paled. 'You don't mean that.'

'You're gonna kill me, aren't you? What does it matter anymore? I can be honest with you. _You were_ _just a job._'

She began to cry. 'I didn't want to do this,' she sobbed.

I wouldn't, couldn't look at her. 'You were a job,' I repeated. She left the room, sobbing.

Time passed. I slept, or at least fell unconscious. After a while, I became aware that someone was with me.

'Teg?'

'Hello, Reno.'

I felt too sick to move. 'You're gonna kill me?'

'No. I think that's Elena's job.'

I felt like crying. 'Oh, good.'

He sighed, heavily. 'You're not putting up much of a fight.'

'What else do you want? I'm gonna die, aren't I?'

Teg laughed. 'I think you should hurt some more first.'

I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I wanted Elena, even though every sensible part of me was telling me not to think of her.

Teg's boot hit my face. I was as stoic as I could be, though I think my body betrayed me, crying out just a little. As I fell unconscious again, I heard Teg's voice, clear as day.

'You'll be screaming more before this night is out, Reno.'

I tried to rack through my sore, tired brain for the moment that I'd met Teg, but nothing was forthcoming. He'd come from the academy, I knew that, and though he was older than me, he was lower ranking. He was quiet, maybe shy, maybe rude. It wasn't so much he lacked the camraderie of a Turk, more that he lacked the desire to spend time with us socially. I'd never not trusted him, though I guess I'd never particularly liked him. I didn't _know _him, I realised now.I never could have guessed that he was...

He kicked me and punched me, and got out a sharp little knife that he cut me with. He found a particularly tender spot on my back, that he had kicked hard, and he kept punching me there, over and over and over... I wanted to pass out, wanted to not feel this sick, cloying pain, but I couldn't. So I remained as stoic as I possibly could, crying out only when it really, _really _hurt, occupying my mind with trying not to think of Elena.

A/N- Poor Reno... Please review 


	12. Elena 6

Chapter Twelve

Elena

I watched Reno sleep, frightened he would become ill and die before waking. He was chained to a pipe in the storage room, his arms twisted at odd angles above him. Teg had beaten him horribly- I could see cuts, scrapes and bruises through the tears and rips in his white dress shirt. After a couple of hours, a thin trail of blood started to trickle from his nose. He woke when I pressed a cloth to it, trying to stem the bleeding.

For a moment, we just stared at each other. I moved the washcloth and was alarmed to see that the blood was flowing thicker and faster. Reno coughed.

'Sit up a little,' I told him, trying to pull him up by his shoulders.

He blinked at me. 'Leave me alone.'

He was trying to sound cold, to sound brave, but his voice was barely audible. Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I didn't deserve to be upset. Not after what I had done.

'I have a cure materia,' I said, slotting the small green orb into a platinum bracelet that hung around my wrist.

Reno closed his eyes. 'Go away,' he told me, faintly.

I touched my fingertips to his collarbone, murmuring 'Cure,' under my breath. The milky aura spread over Reno's skin, and then faded. Though the crisscross of wounds over his body didn't become any less vivid, his breathing became calmer, less labored. His nosebleed stopped, so I wiped away the clotted mess from above his lip. He wouldn't look at me.

'Reno? Please...'

'You're going to kill me, aren't you,' he said, softly. He shivered, and I realised it was pretty cold down here. I went to one of the crates, finding a thick green blanket on the top. I lay it over him, then sat cross-legged again.

'I don't want to kill you,' I said, honestly.

He laughed, without humor. 'You're still going to, though.' He didn't even open his eyes.

I put my hand on his shoulder. He didn't move away, though I had a feeling it was because he was too tired to even flinch. 'I wish I'd never gotten involved in this,' I told him.

A tear slid down his cheek, from underneath closed eyelids. 'Yeah, me too.'

I felt like my heart was imploding. 'Reno...'

'You're worse than Shinra, you know? What's your plan, after you've killed me, Cid, the other crew member? Because, you're gonna be in deep shit the second you land this ship, and Teg's on here, and you're on here, and we're all dead. How you gonna get outta that one, huh?'

I looked away from him. He was staring at me, eyes almost impassive. He genuinely wanted to know.

'Rosa's brother is involved in security. I'll... I'll send out a distress signal. I'll tell them how... one of the crew members was anti-Shinra... how he killed you and Cid. They'll talk me through landing the ship, Teg will be snuck off before anyone finds out he was ever on here.' I swallowed hard. 'Two less Shinra,' I said, quietly.

'For what?' asked Reno, in disbelief. 'What good does my death do you? And Cid's?'

'We thought... it would be Tseng who would be on here with me,' I admitted, staring at the ground.

'God,' Reno spat out. 'So you're shit at being terrorists! They would _never _put Tseng up here! He's the leader of the Turks! He's not half useless, like me. You're really gonna go to all this trouble to kill two Shinra?'

'I hate Shinra,' I told him, quietly.

'I though you loved me,' his voice was dripping in sarcasm.

'What's stronger?' I asked, rhetorically. 'Love or hate?'

'Isn't it obvious?' I had never heard such venom. 'Weakness is the strongest character trait. You are too young and too stupid to say "no," and so love,' he hissed the word, 'and hate have nothing to do with it. You're too _weak _to feel, Elena.'

'That's not true!' I cried, trying to hold back the tears and failing, miserably.

'Then why are you here?' He sounded exhausted, but his eyes still felt like they were burning me.

I sighed, then shrugged. 'Because I'm too filled with hate.'

Reno's eyes drifted shut. 'You're filled with nothing, Lena. You're an empty shell.'

Tegwin was in the living room, watching a film. He grinned up at me as I came in.

'Having fun?' he asked.

'Oh, yeah,' I replied, dully. I headed to the sink, to try and wash the blood off my hands. Teg sighed.

'Elena. It's hard, I know it is. I've known Reno longer than you, and yeah, he's a nice guy. I'll admit that. But he's one of them. He doesn't care who he kills, how many lives he destroys. He's Shinra, through and through.'

I rinsed out the dish cloth, then hung it over the sink. 'Do you want a drink.'

'A coffee, thanks.' He looked at me closely. 'Elena, you don't honestly think you've fallen for him?'

I shook my head. 'Of course not. It's... Stockholm Syndrome, is all.'

Teg looked blank. 'What?'

'When a captive starts to sympathise with their captor. We were stuck together for two weeks. It'll be fine.'

He gave me a suspicious look, then just shrugged. 'We've got twelve hours, maybe, then we'll be back over Midgar. We need to finish him off before then.' He looked hard at me. 'You want me to do it?'

I shook my head. 'No. I'll do it.'

There was a beat, then Teg grinned. 'Good for you, Laney.'

I flinched. 'Don't call me that.'

He shrugged. 'Whatever.' His attention turned back to the T.V.

I went to my room and sat on the bed. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get my breathing straight again.

_What have I done?_

For so long, my only thoughts had been Shinra, and how much I hated them. Three weeks ago, there was not a Soldier, nor a Turk, that I wouldn't have shot on sight. But suddenly, the thought of hurting Reno, whoever he was, whatever he did, made me sick.

_Is it Shinra I hate, or my father?_

I thought back to my time in the academy, the years I had spent being trained under Shinra. Sure, some of it I didn't agree with: the Slums for a start. But what was it Reno had told me, about the hours the Turks spent patrolling there, making sure it was safe?

_He came from there. He wouldn't lie._

Who was the traitor here? Was it Reno, or was it me?

I thought of Teg, slumped on the sofa in front of the T.V, then of Reno. One of the two had been nothing but honest, protecting the world he came from in the only way he could. The other had based his whole existence on lies.

_And who am I following?_

Bile rose in my throat. I was barely able to make it to the toilet in time.

When I was finished, I slumped against the wall in a cold sweat.

_Who am I? Am I a savior?_

I wanted to help the planet, to save them from evil.

_But I'm not doing that, am I._

Reno was so badly injured. I could tell earlier from the sick sound of his breathing, and the way his eyes kept falling shut. On unsteady feet, I pulled myself up, dragged myself to the storage room.

Reno was lying on the ground. Every so often, he shuddered. His skin, already painfully white, looked as though there was no blood left in it. I couldn't tear my gaze away.

'El?'

My heart leapt with hope, then I realised he was delirious. Tears jumped to my eyes.

_He's sick and frightened, and he's asking for me._

He didn't know what he was saying. I moved to his side.

'Reno, I'm here.'

'Everything hurts,' he mumbled.

I stroked his hair back from his forehead. 'It's gonna be okay,' I promised.

He could barely keep his eyes open. 'I thought you'd gone.'

He felt so clammy. I swallowed a sob. 'No, I'm here.'

'Good.' He leaned his face into my hand. 'I just don't want to be alone.'

'You'll never be alone,' I promised him, allowing myself to cry.

A/N- reviews make the world go round... XD


	13. Reno 7

Chapter Thirteen

Reno

'_I wish we could have met differently. Like, in a bar, or just on the street. I wouldn't have had to be me, you wouldn't have had to be you... We could have been anyone. We could have been friends.'_

What could it have been like, another life for Elena and I? We might have met in a bar, I suppose. I only ever go out with the other Turks, but we might have met her, with other people from the academy. She would be the prettiest one, so I would automatically discount her. Tseng always gets the prettiest ones, because women will always go for a Wutain over almost everyone else. But Tseng only has eyes for one woman, this petite little florist he's been seeing for ages. Aerith, her name is. So when Tseng's turned the chicks down, and they're all vulnerable, that's when I get in there. Ha, just kidding. But that's usually when I start to look more attractive to them.

So maybe Elena's sitting at a table, with her friend Rosa, looking all dejected. Rosa will be making eyes at me, because she looks like the kind of girl who would go for the scruffier option. I would be going along with it, because hell: Rosa looked like a pretty girl. And I am a man after all.

But then Rosa would get up to go to the bar. And me and Elena would be left alone together...

_The pretty blonde picked up her glass, then blinked._

'_It's empty,' she said, as though she'd just worked out the planet was actually round._

_I indicated the the slutty brunette, who was holding a shiny palmful of my gil. She was drunk enough not to care that I'd sent her to the bar, rather than go myself._

'_White wine spritzah,' I gently mocked her posh Icicle accent._

_She smiled, as though seeing me for the first time. 'Are you drinking on the job?'_

_I blinked. 'Me?'_

'_A Turk is always on the job, right?' She was grinning. Gods, she had a nice smile._

'_A Turk is also always drunk.' I amused myself for a moment with the sight of Rosa trying to carry three drinks.Elena shook her head._

'_She's crazy,' she said, indicating her friend._

_I snorted. 'There's loyalty for you.'_

_Elena laughed. 'No! She's my best friend, and I adore her, but...' Her expression turned serious. 'Don't, you know, try and sleep with her tonight.'_

_I arched an eyebrow. 'Oh?'_

_Elena sighed. 'She doesn't show great judgement when she's drunk.'_

'_Oh, and I'm such a terrible guy?'_

_She rolled her eyes. 'Any guy that would fuck her in the state she's in is terrible.'_

'_Good thing I haven't fucked her yet then.'_

_She smiled at me, brown eyes sparkling. 'Yeah, good thing.'_

_Rosa managed to slap our drinks down onto the table._

'_White wine, beer, triple vodka,' she announced, almost missing her seat. I pulled her upright, then whistled as she poured the clear liquid down her throat._

'_Okay, she's cut off,' I said, shaking my head, as she gagged, then grinned inanely._

_Elena looked worried. 'Rosa, are you okay?'_

_I caught Rude's eye, calling him over to us._

_Rude's great. Seriously. He's said maybe eleven words in his life, but each word is the wisest ever spoken. He's six foot seven and bald as an egg, and wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, unless Shinra was telling him to._

'_Rude, when are you heading back?'_

_Stupid question. Rude is in bed before one o'clock every night, world without end. Even tonight, a Friday, when there were no contract killings to be done all weekend._

'_Soon,' he replied, verbose as ever._

'_This is Rosa. She needs to get home. Can she get a ride with you?'_

_He grunted, which meant yes. I noticed that Elena looked a bit edgy, so I said 'Tseng's going back with you right?' Rude nodded, and just like that, Elena calmed down. I don't get it. Tseng is some kinda demi-god._

_Soon, it was just me, Elena, Cissnei, Tegwin and some guy from the academy. Cissnei, who was drunker than she would usually be, had got a jug of some kind from the bar. She poured a bit into each of our glasses._

'_Let's play a game,' she said, a mischevious glint in her eyes._

_Turk games are legendary. We have no secrets from one another, no boundaries, no nothing. When the drinks are flowing, things can get pretty wild._

_Of course, Elena and her buddy Jack didn't know this._

'_We'll start easy,' said Cissnei. She pulled out a knife, razor sharp, and placed it in the middle of the table. 'You get a truth. If you refuse to answer, you get a dare.' She raised an eyebrow. 'Fair?'_

_Elena lifted her chin, defiant. 'Fair.'_

_Cissnei spun the knife. The point faced Teg, who laughed. 'What more can you learn about me, Ciss?'_

_She grinned. 'What can Jack and Elena learn is the question.' She thought for a minute. 'We'll start easy. Weirdest sexual fantasy?'_

_He snorted. 'Challenge me, Cissnei. Scarlett, in the boardroom, with Heidegger watching.'_

_We all screamed with laughter. Jack shook his head. 'You Turks got some fuckin' issues,' he remarked, a note of awe in his voice._

'_My turn to spin.' Teg caressed the knife. I could see him staring at Elena. She stared straight back at him._

_The knife landed on me. I rolled my eyes. 'Yeah, yeah, come on then.'_

_Tegwin pretended to consider it. 'Have you ever had a threesome?'_

_I shook my head. 'Nope.'_

_Teg crowed. 'You're lying! I know you're lying?'_

'_Oh yeah, and how do you know that?'_

_Cissnei giggled. 'Because you're a whore, Reno. There's very little you haven't done.'_

'_I've never had you, Cissnei,' I pointed out._

_She colored slightly. Teg muttered something._

'_What?' I turned to him. 'What did you say?'_

'_Not through lack of trying,' he said, smirking._

'_Me or her?' I rolled my eyes. 'Who cares anyway. I've never had a threesome. Next.'_

_I spun the knife, but Teg clamped his hand down on it. He was about to say something to me, when he saw the sharp edge was pinting at Elena. A slow smile spread over his face. 'Interesting.'_

'_That doesn't count,' Cissnei scolded him._

_He looked at Elena. 'Does it count?' he asked, clearly._

_She looked nervous, but she met his gaze straight on. 'It counts,' said Elena._

_He stared at her. 'Would you fuck me? Would you fuck me now?'_

_Elena rolled her eyes. 'I'm not answering that.'_

_Teg raised an eyebrow. 'Then I do believe you get a dare.'_

'_Tegwin, fuck off,' I told him, sighing. 'Cissnei, you think of a question for her.'_

'_No, no,' Teg insisted. 'She gets a dare.' He leaned across the table. 'Fuck me. Here and now.'_

_Elena stared at him for a beat, then in a show of perfect comic timing, burst into laughter. I met Cissnei's eyes, and we grinned. Teg looked very disgruntled._

'_I was just kidding,' he muttered._

_Elena spun the knife, smiling. It landed on me again._

_She took a long sip of her drink, then tipped her head to the side. 'Who would you fuck at this table? One person.'_

_Teg, never one to sulk for long, hooted. 'I love this girl!'_

_I'm a redhead. We blush. A lot. 'I dunno.'_

_Jack shook his head. 'Come on, it's not hard. Cissnei and Elena. Unless,' he smirked, 'you swing the other way...'_

'_You tryin' for me?' I retorted. 'Nah, I like girls.'_

_Cissnei was giving me this really odd look. 'So who then?'_

'_What?' I gaped at her. 'Aw jeez, I don't know. They're both hot.'_

'_Who's hotter?' asked Cissnei, bluntly._

_The bell rang for last orders. 'I need a beer,' I announced. 'Think of dare for me while I'm gone.'_

'_Chicken,' sighed Teg. 'Get me a beer, man.'_

_I got another jug and the two beers. The game kinda tailed off, and eventually we spilled onto the streets._

_Teg and Jack were headed in the same direction, so they shared a cab. Me, Cissnei and Elena ended up sharing too, which was mighty awkward. There was some kinda chick thing going on, the mechanics of which I was not privy to. When we reached Cissnei's building, I stood on the sidewalk to say goodbye._

_She gave me a hug, then stood back and looked at me._

'_Reno.'_

_There was a question in her voice, one I didn't understand. When I didn't reply, she stumbled towards her building._

'_Be safe, Reno,' she called over her shoulder. 'We don't want any baby Turks.'_

_I just rolled my eyes. Cissnei is crazy when she drinks. I prefer her sober, when she's more herself. There's something weird about her after a few beers, like she's hidin' some deep dark secret._

_I got back into the cab. I half expected Elena to be passed out in the back, with the amount she'd had, but she just watched me, those brown eyes catching the light._

'_This is weird, being in a taxi with you.'_

'_You callin' me weird?' I pretended to be offended._

_She laughed. 'No, stupid.' Her face grew serious. 'We could be anybody, right now.'_

_I smiled at her. 'I'm glad we're us.'_

_She leaned over and kissed me. Mid kiss, she laughed._

_I rolled my eyes, smiling. 'What?'_

'_Nothing. I'm just happy.'_

_I brushed a lock of soft blonde hair from her face. 'Good.'_

_When we got to her building, I walked her to the door. _

'_I'm not gonna invite you in,' she told me._

'_Okay.'_

'_I _want _to invite you in, because I really want to have sex with you.' I laughed. 'But,' she went on, 'I am a good girl. So I'm not going to.'_

'_Okay.' I said again._

_She examined my face. 'Will I see you again?'_

_I nodded. 'Yes, you will,' I said, firmly. _

_She leaned up and kissed me. It was an amazing kiss, the kind where your mind stops working and your eyes roll back in your head. I had to pull away, otherwise I might have collapsed. She grinned at me, then turned to input the entry code into the door. As I turned back to the taxi, she called my name._

'_Yeah?'_

'_What would you have said, in reply to my question?'_

_I rolled my eyes. 'God, Elena. I obviously would have said Teg.'_

_Her laughter rang through the streets. When I fell asleep that night, it was to that sound, and the image of her face,eyes twinkling, hair shining._

A/N- that was a filler chapter lol. I love flashbacks, and alternate reality type things, and I also wanted to have a lighthearted bit, even if it's only in his imagination. I also have a major soft spot for Aerith, and wanted to get her in here somehow. I think there's another three chapters in this. Please review 


	14. Elena 7

Chapter Fourteen

Elena

I should've told the truth at Junon, when we were on the ground and outnumbered a thousand to one. I should have taken the consequences, the disgust that I would have faced from both Shinra and also the anti-Shinra alliances I had joined with. I should have told Reno the night we watched Loveless: he would have been mad, but I think he would have helped me end it, understood eventually. There was so much I should have done, that I _hadn't _done. I was going to do something right, for the first time in this whole charade.

I went through to the engine room. Reno's breathing was loud: I could hear it from outside the door. I went in, knelt beside him, stroking sweat soaked hair from his forehead. With the tips of my fingers, I traced the scars that went from his eye sockets to his cheek bones. He gazed up at me.

'How did you get them?' I asked softly.

He was less delirious than before. His eyes stared at me coldly, with a hatred I'd never known before. His hate was so much stronger than anything I'd ever felt. Maybe he was right- maybe I was empty.

'They wanted me to infiltrate this gang. Kill the leader.' He coughed, and a little blood splashed out, frightening me. 'I went to the slums, I even lived there a while.' He shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable. It was impossible, when his arms were twisted above him. 'It was a mistake.'

'Shinra's mistake?' I questioned him.

He nodded vaguely. 'They don't understand... slum politics. They knew I was... an outsider.' He closed off, stopped speaking,

'Reno?'

He just sighed. 'My throat hurts, Elena.' He shivered, his breathing slowing down.

I gazed at him, wishing he could have finished the story. I wanted to understand him, but you have to earn that, I guess. There wasn't any time left- it was too late. I stroked his hair once more, then placed a kiss on his forehead.

The gun had a silencer, so when I placed it to his temple and swallowed, there was just a very anti-climactic whoosh of air, then a slight thud as his head hit the wall. I stared for a moment at his corpse, wondering what his last thoughts had been of. Had they been happy?

I straightened up, shaky legs carrying me to the living room. Teg looked up at me. 'Is it done?'

I nodded. 'Yes.'

He rubbed his hands together in approval. 'Good girl, Elena.' He turned back to the T.V, and I felt sick that a human life could mean so little to him. Well, good. Because he meant nothing to me. I didn't bother with the silencer this time. His head popped accusingly, but I didn't care. I was numb to him.

I went to the engine room where Cid was chained to the wall. He spat at me when I entered. I held up my gun, then emptied the magazine. I unlocked his cuffs, then stood back.

He stared at me, suspiciously. 'What the fuck are you doing?'

'I'm giving in. I need you to get Reno into the cockpit, so I can kep an eye on him, whilst you fly us to the nearest town with a hospital.

Cid didn't trust me. And why should he?

'Teg is dead. So is the other terrorist he had bought onboard. Reno is still alive, but Teg beat him very badly. So I need to watch him whilst you fly.'

'I get to have your damn gun,' Cid told me. He glared. 'You're a nasty little bitch, Silva.'

I swallowed hard, but accepted the abuse. He spat at the ground again, then sighed. 'Where's the kid?'

He meant Reno. I felt a pang at the gruff term of endearment. It struck me how many would be affected by Reno's death, how many would be left devastated.

Cid was glaring at me as we headed to the storage room, the gun aimed at my head the whole time. 'They're gonna hate you, you know that? You'll have to answer to 'em, each and every one. Cissnei'll probably kill you- she's been in love with him since day one.'

_Of course. And she suspected me as well, I bet. Maybe that's why they didn't say goodbye..._

I stared at the ground. We reached the storage room. Reno's breathing scared me. He gazed sightlessly at us as we entered. God, Teg had beaten the _hell _out of him...

'C'mon, Reno.' Cid pulled him to his feet easily. I was surprised by his quiet strength- I'd always thought he was just a crazy old guy with a flask full of tea. I'd underestimated him, I realised.

He walked Reno through to the cockpit, where he propped him gently on the floor. He untied the other crew member, who threw me a disgusted look, but then they just got back to making sure we were on course for Kalm, the closest town. I sat close to Reno, making sure he was still breathing. His eyes were closed, but I don't think he was unconscious. At one point, he opened his eyes and looked at me.

'Why?' he asked, quietly.

Why had I saved him? 'I'm not empty,' I told him.

His eyes flickered shut. 'Why should I believe a word you say?'

I deserved it. I deserved all of it. But gods, it stung.

When we landed at Kalm my father was there, along with a number of very grave looking officials. A group of medics instantly took Reno away, and I stared after him, wondering if our paths would ever cross again.

What can I say about the interrogation? It was horrific, in a word. Six different people threw questions at me, yelled at me, called me a liar and a whore. Worst of all was when Tseng came in.

He had a glass of water for me, which I drank gratefully. Everyone else had refused to give me any kind of sustenance, and I was starting to feel weak and sick. Tseng watched me for a while, then spoke.

'Your naivety astonishes me, Miss Silva.'

I flinched. His tone was cold, emotionless.

'Your stupidity,' he continued, 'just plain disgusts me.' He surprised me then, by sighing, painfully. 'And yet I understand your motives.'

I blinked. 'You... do?'

'Of course I do. Shinra has... done the planet wrong, on many levels. But... Shinra errs through attempts to change things, usually for the better. Those changes, when they come, are acheived by people like Reno, people like Cid, myself, Cissnei... We don't agree necessarily, with all that we do. But we understand that what we are doing will eventually heal the planet.' He looked at me straight on. 'What you attempted was a petty act of terrorism.'

I stared at the ground, willing the tears that filled my eyes not to fall.

Tseng stood. 'You are free to go.'

I gaped at him. 'Wh,what?'

'You are a stupid little girl, but you somewhat redeemed yourself by aborting you "mission."' He shrugged. 'You're young. You'll find your place in the world someday. For now, you're not worth our time.'

He did not say goodbye, but our eyes met. I could see the disappointment, the sadness for what Reno had suffered. I felt a twist as I turned, leaving for the very last time.

_In another life... what could have been for us all? Maybe I could have been a Turk. Huh. Never thought I'd even think that. So much could have been. We might even have had a chance, huh Reno? Now I'll never see you again. I'm so stupid, stupid, _stupid.

My father was waiting for me. H didn't speak until we reached the armored vehicle that would take us to Midgar.

'I feel I've failed you, Elena.'

I stared at him in shock. 'You... what?'

'I thought I had raised someone I could be proud of, someone I'd be glad to tell people was my daughter. Now I almost wish I didn't know you at all.'

I flinched. 'Dad...'

'No,' he cut me off. 'You'll have to leave Midgar, of course.I'm not sure where you'll go, but that can be sorted. I will support you financially, until you feel able to become independent of me. I will not begrudge you a gil, Elena.' Here he turned to look at me. 'But I warn you, I will not forgive you for this for a long time.' His face softened. 'But I will forgive you.'

A tear dribbled down my cheek. I couldn't speak- I had nothing to say, no apologies I could make. Instead, I just watched the countryside fly by, the Soldiers battling monsters as part of their training, the children playing in the marshes and bogs a few miles outside of Midgar. As we passed through the city limits, and the huge iron gates slammed shut behind us, I closed my eyes.

A/N- the next chapter is the last one. Please review!


	15. Reno 8

Chapter Fifteen

Reno

I was in hospital for a week, with concussion and internal bleeding. All the cuts on my chest then got infected, just as I was about to get out, so I had to stay another two days, which was just fantastic. It wasn't too bad though. Everyone came to visit, Cissnei and Rude and Tseng and even Reeve and a bunch of secretaries and people like that. It was nice, in a way, lying in bed and having people bring me fruit and magazines and stuff. Cissnei refused to sneak in any beer, but she promised we'd all go out the second I was well enough, which was nice. It was good to have my friends around.

I lasted a week without asking about Elena, but then the curiosity got too much. When Tseng told me she hadn't been charged, I felt my stomach flip with relief.

'So, what's happened to her?'

'Do you really want to think about her, Reno?' asked Tseng, tiredly.

I shrugged. 'I did spend all that time with her, even if she did turn out to have a screw loose. And...' I chewed on my lip. 'Whatever she did, she did make it okay in the end. And she never touched me herself.'

'She just poisoned you,' said Tseng drily.

'Yeah, well...' It was funny, it made me angry hearing stuff against he, even after what she had done, even though she was who she was. I still couldn't help but cling to this hope that the real Elena was the girl I'd gotten to know on the airship- the one who made me coffee even though she was annoyed I'd gotten drunk, the one who threw glasses of water in my face, the one who stood up for me to bigwig Soldiers. No-one is that good an actress. Somewhere deep inside, that _was _Elena. I don't know what would have happened to me if I stopped believing that, bcause really, it was all that was keeping me afloat.

'I honestly don't know where she is now,' said Tseng.

I sighed. 'I guess it doesn't really matter.'

Tseng eyed me closely. 'You really fell hard for her, didn't you Reno?'

When I got out of hospital, I chilled at home for a couple of days. I was on sick leave from work, and pretty bored to be honest. On the Wednesday we all went out, but I was on too many painkillers, and one beer made me sick. I went home early, leaving everyone else to have fun by themselves.

All this time by myself was leaving me with a lot of time to think. And _all _I could think of was Elena. Which was why, on Friday, I found myself using my Turk credentials to find out the address of one Silva, Jens. Sixth Street, Upper Midgar. One of the most secure apartment blocks in the world. I called the security there, and spent nearly two hours proving who I was. Eventually, they relented and told me Miss Silva was indeed staying there, but she would be leaving Midgar very soon. Today in fact.

I jumped into my car, and broke about seventy laws getting there. Of course, then I had to fight to get in and see her. Finally, I was told I could go up there, as long as two of the Soldiers allocated to protect her were there at all times. I agreed, not caring. _I just wanted to see her._

She made a little surprised sound when she saw me, like 'Oh!' only more strangled. '_Reno?'_

'Elena.' I gazed at her. She looked thin and tired, dressed in a thin grey tee shirt and black trackpants. Her blonde hair was pulled back, her huge brown eyes were make-up free. She looked as gorgeous as ever.

She stared at me for a moment, then turned to the Soldiers. 'Please, we need a moment.'

'We'll be next door. The joining door will be left _open_,' one of them informed her.

She nodded, distractedly. When we were alone, kind of, she turned to me. 'I, I didn't think I'd see you again.'

I shook my head. 'Everyone said I shouldn't think about you. But...' I trailed off, then shrugged. We stared at each other, in awkward silence.

'Reno... for what it's worth... I couldn't have hurt you. Not, not physically,' she added, astutely.

I nodded. 'I know. I remember... you were with me, when I felt worst. And you made me feel better.'

She smiled, sadly. 'All I can think of, is... what if things were different, you know?'

'Yeah, I know.' I sighed. 'So... you're leaving?'

'Yeah,' she nodded. 'I'm going to Icicle. I've got a job there, at the orphanage. I love children, and it's far from Midgar, so... it made sense.'

I smiled. 'You'll be good. You looked after me on the plane.' I realised what I'd said, and so did she. We both stared awkwardly at the ground. 'Um, yeah. Well.'

I didn't want to leave, but I knew I would have to, soon.I think Elena realised this, too. She gazed at me.

'Reno. Did you ever realise that Cissnei was in love with you?' she asked me.

I blinkd, surprised at the suddenness of the question. It was funny though, I'd never even thought of it, but the second Elena said it, I realised that yes, it was true.

'Huh. I guess she is.'

Elena smiled sadly. 'She's good for you Reno. She's so full of love, of kindness.'

I rolled my eyes. 'You barely even met her.'

She shrugged. 'I could tell though. And she adores you.' She sighed. 'You and she...'

I cut her off. 'I don't love Cissnei though, do I.'

She shivered. I realised I'd never _really _told her how I , she might as well know. Why not? It wouldn't make the slightest difference.

'You didn't mean it then, that I was just a job?'

I smiled slightly. 'No, I didn't mean it.'

Silence fell again. I looked at her.

'Elena-'

'Reno-'

I shrugged. She shrugged. I rolled my eyes and grinned. 'You go.'

'Okay.' She took a deep breath. 'I was going to say 'I love you,' though I realise there's not much use in that now. So I guess... Good Luck, Reno.'

'I was going to ask where you're living in Icicle,' I told her.

Her eyes widened. 'You were?'

I nodded. 'We have a house there. Perks, ya know. Everyone else hates it- too cold and all. But I go there everytime I get the chance.'

A slight sparkle had entered Elena's eyes. 'Yeah? And how often is that?'

'Oh, pretty often,' I said casually. 'Every couple weeks.'

A smile broke on Elena's face, and I knew my gamble in coming here had paid off. _This _was El.

'Good to know,' she said, just as casually.

'Well, I've gotta go,' I told her. She nodded.

'Yeah, you probably should.' When I reached the door, she called out to me.

'Yeah?'

'Just out of interest, how much longer are you off work sick?'

'Oh, I don't know. A week, maybe two.'

'Oh,' she nodded, nonchalantly. 'You gonna stay around Midgar?'

'I was thinking of going somewhere for a few days. Somewhere close to home though. I'm not really up for much airtravel.'

'Oh, no,' she nodded fervently. 'Of course, if you're ever in the area...' She flicked a piece of paper at me, expertly. 'There's a nice bar, The Ice Queen, nearby.'

I put the little white slip in the pocket of my dress pants, grinning. 'Right, sure. The Ice Queen,' I repeated. 'Interesting.'

Elena smiled at me. 'I'll see you, Reno.'

I gave her a sloppy attempt at a salute. 'I'll see you, El.'

I didn't turn round to look at her, to try and imprint her beautiful face, her lovely blonde hair, onto my memory. Maybe I would have, if I thought this was it, that I'd never see her again. But I knew that wasn't true. We _would_ meet again, maybe on the street, maybe in a bar. Maybe I would buy her a white wine _spritzah_, maybe she would burst into laughter halfway through our first kiss. Maybe, maybe, maybe... I didn't know. All I knew was that there were infinite possibilities out there, all untouched like pure Icicle snow. And I knew I couldn't wait to start exploring them.

A/N- Eek, I'm scared that got a little bit too fluffy at the end!


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